Namibia bid farewell to its esteemed leader, the late President Hage Geingob, whose battle with cancer came to a solemn end on February 4th.
The ceremony unfolded on the outskirts of Windhoek, as thousands of mourners, a gathering that included 25 heads of state and former presidents, paid their respects at the revered Heroes Acre.
After enduring 20 days of national mourning, the final rites were solemnly conducted. The military honoured Geingob with a poignant 21-gun salute, while K-8 fighter jets soared through the skies in a poignant tribute.
At the age of 82, Geingob, who served as Namibia’s two-time prime minister and assumed the presidency in 2015, had been leading the sparsely populated and predominantly arid southern African nation. His tenure, unfortunately, reached its conclusion in what would have been his final year in office.
A stalwart in Namibia’s struggle for independence, Geingob’s journey was marked by 27 years of exile. His odyssey took him through Botswana, Zambia, and the United States, only to culminate in his return to Namibia in 1989.
The legacy of a leader who navigated the tumultuous history of his nation had now found its resting place at the Heroes Acre, as the nation grappled with the loss of a visionary who had steered them through pivotal moments in their post-independence era.
Having occupied various prominent roles within both the government and the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO), Hage Geingob’s influential journey included chairing the committee responsible for crafting Namibia’s constitution—a document hailed as a paragon of good governance and adherence to the rule of law.
During his tenure as Namibia’s inaugural prime minister, Geingob earned recognition for instilling contemporary management methodologies in the administration, marking a transformative era in the governance of the nation.
“Your impact on us has been profound, your footprint on this nation is immense,” said Nangolo Mbumba, interim president at the funeral. “You leave our country in better shape … You have left us with an economic roadmap towards prosperity,” he added.
Namibia, classified as a middle-income nation, boasts rich reserves of diamonds, uranium, and lithium essential for the production of electric car batteries.
In a recent stride towards the global green economy, Namibia has positioned itself as a trailblazer by becoming the inaugural African nation to commit to supplying the European Union with green hydrogen and crucial minerals integral to clean energy initiatives.
Rooted in its history as a former German colony, Namibia is gearing up for its upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for November.
