In Namibia, flags are flying at half-mast across the country. The first president of the independent state of Namibia, Samuel Shafiishuna Nujoma, died on Saturday night. He was 95 years old. This made Nujoma the last living former leader of African liberation movements of his generation.
Namibia's President Nangolo Mbumba announced Nujoma's death yesterday morning in a statement on the Facebook page of the President's Office. Nujoma had been treated in a hospital in Windhoek for three weeks. However, he had not been able to recover from his illness. He died on Saturday, 8 February at 23:45.
Mbumba honoured Nujoma's achievements in the liberation struggle and in the rebuilding of Namibia after independence in 1990. He expressed his condolences to the bereaved family members on behalf of the government and the citizens of Namibia. He also announced a period of national mourning.
Today, Monday, Namibia's newspapers were filled with obituaries and condolence notices from ministries, organisations and companies. The leading daily newspaper The Namibian dedicated its first ten pages to Nujoma.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma was born on 12 May 1929 in Etunda near Okahao in the north of the country. He had nine younger siblings.
The area that is now Namibia, a German colony from 1884 to 1915, was occupied by South Africa during the First World War. From 1919 it was under South African administration on the basis of a League of Nations mandate (see History of Namibia on Namibian.org).
Nujoma began his political activities at the end of the 1950s as part of the resistance against the increasing introduction of apartheid in South West Africa. After the bloody uprising against forced resettlement in Windhoek in 1959 (more on this in the video 'The Old Location' on the YouTube channel of Gondwana Collection Namibia and in the detailed article on Wikipedia), he went into exile in 1960.
There, Nujoma was elected the first president of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO, formerly the Ovambo People's Organisation), which he co-founded. Under his leadership, SWAPO campaigned for international support for the self-determination of the people of South West Africa.
In 1962, Nujoma founded the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). In 1966, PLAN started the armed struggle against the South African apartheid regime.
In the meantime, the United Nations had withdrawn South Africa's mandate to administer South West Africa. The UN later acknowledged SWAPO as the sole representative of the country's population.
Nujoma led SWAPO throughout the struggle for independence from 1966 to 1989. After the first free elections under UN observation to the Constituent Assembly, this body elected Nujoma as Namibia's first president. On 21 March 1990, he was ceremonially sworn in in the presence of many heads of state (see historical film recording of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation NBC on Facebook).
In his first and two further terms in office, in which he was elected by the people, Nujoma shaped the development of the country. He endeavoured to achieve balance and reconciliation within a society that had been divided by decades of apartheid policies.
Unlike many heads of state in Africa, Nujoma limited himself to the two regular terms of office prescribed by the constitution. But even under his favourite successor and decades-long companion Hifikepunye Pohamba, he still had great political influence.
Nujoma received many international honours and honorary doctorates for his work. In 2004, the Namibian parliament awarded him the official titles 'Founding President of the Republic of Namibia' and 'Father of the Namibian Nation'.
His last public appearance was a year ago. Nujoma attended the funeral of Namibia's third president, Hage Geingob (see film recording by NBC Digital News on YouTube).
Nujoma celebrated his 95th birthday on 12 May 1994 with close friends and family. His health was already failing. He was hospitalised several times before and after.
Nujoma died one day before the 35th anniversary of the Namibian constitution. He is survived by his wife Kovambo and three sons as well as several grandchildren and great-granchildren.
A detailed article on Sam Nujoma's life can be found on Wikipedia.
Sven-Eric Stender