Namibia’s President Hage Geingob, a veteran of the nation’s liberation wrestle and its first post-independence prime minister, died on Sunday.
Condolences to the 82-year-old statesman poured in from African leaders who noticed him as a hero of the wrestle in opposition to apartheid.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his remorse for his nation’s lack of “a associate who was dedicated to the method of reconciliation with Germany’s colonial historical past.”
Just lately, Geingob upheld South Africa’s grievance in opposition to Israel beneath the Genocide Conference and condemned Germany, Namibia’s former colonial ruler, for opposing the case.
He revealed throughout his second time period as president final month that he was being handled for most cancers.
Former Vice President Nangolo Mbumba was inaugurated to succeed Geingob as president on Sunday, alongside new Vice President Nitumbo Nandy-Ndayetwah.
The couple will work till the presidential and Nationwide Meeting elections on the finish of the 12 months.
Mbumba had beforehand introduced the dying, saying, “Our beloved physician, Haji Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, handed away at present.
“At his facet have been his expensive spouse, Madame Monica Geingos, and his kids.”
This led to an outpouring of tributes from throughout the continent, together with from leaders who had labored with him within the wrestle to free Southern Africa from apartheid rule.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated: “Right now, South Africa joins the folks of our sister nation Namibia in mourning the dying of a frontrunner, patriot and pal.
“President Geingob was a struggle veteran who contributed to the liberation of Namibia from colonialism and apartheid.
“It additionally had a huge effect on the solidarity that the folks of Namibia provided to the folks of South Africa in order that we might be free at present.”
Kenyan President William Ruto and lots of African leaders have echoed this reward.
“He believed in a united Africa and strongly enhanced the continent’s voice and visibility on the worldwide stage,” Ruto stated.
WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Geingob’s work to enhance well being take care of Namibians, describing him as a “visionary chief.”
“The baobab tree has fallen,” Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Fee, lamented.
Outdoors Africa, US President Joe Biden praised the late president and described him as “a brave chief who fought for independence, supervised the drafting of the brand new nation’s structure, and served his nation twice as prime minister and eventually as president.”
“I’ll miss working with him,” Biden added.
Geingob was the primary president elected in 2014, and was Namibia’s longest-serving prime minister and third president.
In 2013, Geingob underwent mind surgical procedure, and final 12 months he underwent aortic bypass surgical procedure in neighboring South Africa. He was receiving therapy at Girl Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek.
Final month, Geingob threw his weight behind South Africa’s problem in opposition to Israel’s army marketing campaign in Gaza, beneath the Genocide Conference, on the UN Supreme Courtroom.
He particularly singled out Germany, the previous colonial ruler of Namibia and an outspoken critic of the South African case, which stated Israel had violated the settlement.
The Namibian chief expressed her remorse at Germany’s “lack of ability to attract classes from its horrific historical past” and accused Berlin of defending “genocidal and heinous acts.”
Germany massacred greater than 70,000 indigenous Herero and Nama folks in Namibia between 1904 and 1908, in what many historians contemplate the primary genocide of the twentieth century.
In Could 2021, after greater than 5 years of negotiations, Germany admitted to committing genocide within the territories it colonized from 1884 to 1915.
In his response to Geingob’s dying, Germany’s Schulz didn’t point out the controversy surrounding Israel, however thanked the Namibian chief for his help make Germany come to phrases with its actions.
“President Geingob was one of many founding fathers of Namibia and supplied nice companies to the nation’s democratic improvement,” he stated.
He added, “Germany is shedding a associate who was dedicated to the method of reconciliation with Germany’s colonial historical past with nice openness.”
Born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, Geingob was the primary president of the southern African nation from exterior the Ovambo folks, who make up greater than half the inhabitants.
In his early years, he was concerned in activism in opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa, which dominated Namibia on the time.
In 1964, he was appointed as a consultant of the Swapo Liberation Motion to the United Nations.
He spent almost three many years in Botswana and the USA, then returned to Namibia in 1989 to guide the SWAPO social gathering’s election marketing campaign in his now unbiased homeland.