Namibia’s first democratically elected president and a key figure in the country’s fight for independence, Sam Nujoma, passed away at the age of 95 on Saturday, the Namibian Presidency announced on Sunday.
Nujoma played a pivotal role in leading Namibia to freedom from apartheid South Africa before officially taking office as president on March 21, 1990.
In 2005, he was formally recognised as the founding father of the Namibian nation by an act of parliament.
Despite his revered status, Nujoma faced criticism for his intolerance of media scrutiny, opposition to homosexuality and the 1998 constitutional amendment that allowed him to seek a third term.
He was also known for his close alliance with former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Nujoma supported Mugabe’s land seizures from white farmers, though Namibia maintained a more measured willing buyer-willing seller land policy.
Announcing his death, Namibian current President, Nangolo Mbumba, said he died on Saturday night after being hospitalised for weeks.
“The foundations of the Republic of Namibia have been shaken,” Mbumba said in a statement.
“Over the past three weeks, the Founding President of the Republic of Namibia and Founding Father of the Namibian Nation was hospitalised for medical treatment and medical observation due to ill health.
“Unfortunately, this time, the most gallant son of our land could not recover from his illness,” Mbumba added.
As president from 1990 to 2005, Nujoma sought to unite Namibia’s diverse population under the national reconciliation program, One Namibia, One Nation.
He often reminded Namibians of the importance of unity, always stating that “a united people, striving to achieve a common good for all members of the society, will always emerge victorious.”
Born in 1929 in a small village in northwestern Namibia, Nujoma grew up under South African rule, which had taken control of the country after World War I. As a child, he tended cattle and attended a Finnish mission school before moving to Walvis Bay and later Windhoek, where he worked for South African Railways.
His political activism took root in the late 1950s when he led the Owambo People’s Organisation, which later evolved into the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).
He organised resistance against apartheid policies, particularly the forced relocation of Black residents in Windhoek, a movement that ended in police violence, with 12 unarmed protesters killed.
Arrested for his activism, Nujoma went into exile in 1960, travelling across Africa before reaching the United States, where he appealed to the United Nations (UN) for Namibia’s independence.
Despite being in exile, he was elected leader of SWAPO and established its armed wing, launching a guerrilla war against apartheid rule in 1966.
Decades of struggle finally led to a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in 1978, but Namibia’s path to independence took another decade. In 1989, elections were held, with SWAPO securing victory. Nujoma was sworn in as Namibia’s first president in March 1990, marking the beginning of a new era.
While his leadership laid the foundation for Namibia’s democracy, his legacy remains a complex mix of triumph and controversy.
Namibia’s First President Sam Nujoma Dies At 95 is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
