Namibian President Hage Geingob, a figure of independence and ardent opponent of the apartheid regime in South Africa, died on Sunday at the age of 82 from cancer.
President of the country since 2014, he died in Windhoek, the Namibian capital where he had been hospitalized since the discovery of cancer cells during a medical check-up, the presidency announced.
He had recently supported South Africa’s complaint against Israel before the International Court of Justice and condemned the position of Germany, Namibia’s former colonial power, which rejected Pretoria’s accusations of “genocide” against Israel.
“It is with great sadness and regret that I inform you that our beloved Dr. Hage G. Geingob, the President of the Republic of Namibia, passed away today,” read a statement posted on the social network X, signed by the new interim head of state, Nangolo Mbumba, until then vice-president.
Elected for the first time in 2014, Hage Geingob was re-elected in 2019 as president of Namibia, a semi-desert country in southern Africa, one of the last states on the continent to gain independence in 1990.
In January, the presidency announced that a routine medical check-up of Hage Geingob had revealed the presence of “cancer cells”.
The Namibian president had already experienced health problems: in 2013, he had brain surgery and last year, his aorta.
“Visionary leader”
Many voices saluted his memory.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to a “distinguished veteran of Namibia’s liberation from colonialism and apartheid”.
His Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, honored a president who “believed in a unified Africa”, the Tanzanian president, Samia Suluhu, also referring to “a venerable pan-Africanist”.
The Burundian President, Evariste Ndayishimiye, like the Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, regretted the death of a “visionary leader”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) welcoming Mr. Geingob’s investment in public health matters.
US President Joe Biden hailed “a fearless leader, who fought for independence, oversaw the writing of his country’s new Constitution and served twice as prime minister and finally as as president.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of a “tremendous man” of whom he will “forever remember brightly” and who contributed greatly “to the development of friendly relations between Russia and Namibia”.
“Germany loses a partner who engaged in the process of resolving German colonial history with great openness,” declared Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
In Namibia, Germany was responsible between 1904 and 1908 for massacres of at least 70,000 people belonging to the Herero and Nama indigenous peoples, which many historians consider to be the first genocide of the 20th century.e century.
In May 2021, after more than five years of tough negotiations, Germany announced that it recognized having committed “genocide” in Namibia which it colonized between 1884 and 1915 and promised development aid of 1, 1 billion euros over thirty years to benefit the descendants of the two tribes.
Independence activist
Born in northern Namibia in 1941, Hage Gottfried Geingob launched into activism at a young age, demanding an end to the apartheid regime of South Africa which then governed the Namibian territory, before going into exile for almost three decades.
In the United States, he ardently promoted the independence of Namibia and represented at the UN and in the Americas the local liberation movement, SWAPO — the current ruling party.
In 1989, he returned to Namibia, a year before his country’s independence and his first appointment as prime minister.
He remained in office for 12 years, a record for longevity in Namibia, before becoming one again in 2012.
Then elected president in 2014 thanks to an electoral tidal wave (87%), he saw his first mandate marred by a recession, a high unemployment rate and accusations of dishonest actions.
In 2019, documents made public by WikiLeaks suggested that government officials received bribes from an Icelandic company that wanted to secure access to Namibia’s fishing resources.
Despite the controversy, Mr. Geingob won a second term in 2019, however receiving fewer votes than before (56%).