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Namibia’s President Hage Geingob is dead
February 4, 2024, 9:02 a.m
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Namibian President Hage Geingob has died. He died early Sunday morning in a hospital in Windhoek. He has long been revered as the father of independent Namibia. But during his presidency his fame steadily crumbled.
Namibia’s President Hage Gottfried Geingob is dead. The statesman, who once fought for social justice but failed to keep his promises for economic development, died early Sunday morning at the age of 82 in a hospital in Windhoek, as acting President Nangolo Mbumba said on the Platform X, announced. Geingob’s wife Monica and his children were at his side.
“The Namibian nation has lost an outstanding servant of the people, an icon of the liberation struggle, the leading architect of our constitution and the pillar of the Namibian house,” acting President Mbumba said in his statement.
He added that the Cabinet would meet with immediate effect to make necessary arrangements. Geingob was the country’s third president and had been in office since 2015. His wife Monica and his children were at his side in the hospital, the statement said. Geingob was treated at the private hospital in the Namibian capital after doctors discovered cancer cells during a biopsy. The presidential office announced on February 1 that Geingob had returned from the United States, where he received a “novel treatment against cancer cells.”
Born on August 3, 1941 in the rural town of Otjiwarongo in what was then South West Africa, Geingob initially began training as a teacher. In the 1960s, he joined the liberation movement to free his country from foreign administration by neighboring South Africa, which was then run by the racist apartheid government. Geingob became a member of the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO), which later violently pursued its goal of independence with military support from the Soviet Union and Cuba.
Today’s Namibia was a German colony from 1884 to 1915. In 1904, German troops fought the Herero resistance. Later, the Nama, who lived in the south of the country and were called “Hottentots” by the Germans, also took up the fight against the colonialists. Most historians consider the war against Herero and Nama to be a genocide because the goal was not just victory and subjugation, but expulsion and destruction.
There are no reliable figures; it is estimated that 50 to 70 percent of the up to 100,000 Herero who lived in South West Africa around 1900 died. Of the approximately 20,000 Nama, up to 50 percent died. Thousands died in concentration camps set up to deprive fighters of local support. The Damara and San were among the persecuted peoples. The end of the war was officially declared on March 31, 1907. It was not until 1908 that the last concentration camps were closed.
Geingob initially acted as SWAPO’s deputy in Botswana and was appointed SWAPO representative to the United Nations in New York in 1964, where he simultaneously studied political science at renowned US universities. With the founding of the UN Institute for Namibia in 1975 Gingob its director, a position he held until his return to his African homeland in 1989. Geingob was one of the leading figures in his party and played a crucial role until Namibia’s independence in 1990. Among other things, he was one of the main authors of the country’s new constitution. He also saw the recognition of the genocide against the Nama and Herero at the beginning of the 20th century and the official apology from the German side as a success.
Building an independent Namibia
As the first prime minister of independent Namibia – under the presidency of Sam Nujoma – Geingob campaigned for reconciliation and reconstruction of the former German colony with 2.6 million inhabitants. After a stint as industry and trade minister, Geingob became prime minister for the second time in 2012. In November 2014, Namibians elected him president by a large majority and confirmed him for a second term five years later.
Geingob was considered a brilliant thinker and accomplished rhetorician who fought for the rights of the oppressed. His vision of a united and economically strong Namibia made him a respected head of state, both within the country and at the international level, especially during his first term in office. One of Geingob’s most important political achievements is the establishment of a civil service in Namibia. Conservation and eco-tourism were also high on Geingob’s political agenda.
However, during his second term, for which he narrowly received a majority of votes, Geingob lost public reputation. One of the reasons for the sharp decline in trust was his inability to put a stop to mismanagement and unemployment.
His lavish lifestyle, his inability to accept criticism, and his increasing political cooperation with China also sparked popular discontent. In 2021, Geingob faced serious corruption allegations of his own: He was accused of embezzling millions of dollars by allegedly instructing government officials to divert funds from a state-owned fishing company for political bribes. However, the results of the investigation are still pending today. Namibia will have presidential and parliamentary elections towards the end of the year.