Tinubu mourns as Namibian president, Hage Geingob dies at 82

Namibia’s president, Hage Geingob has died on Sunday in a hospital in Windhoek at the age of 82, the presidential office said in a statement on X, posted by acting president Nangolo Mbumba.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Geingob was receiving treatment for cancer before his death.

“It is with utmost sadness and regret that I inform you that our beloved Dr Hage Geingob, the president of Namibia has passed on today,” Mbumba stated.

He said Geingob had as of 2013 undergone brain surgery, and in 2023 underwent an aortic operation in South Africa, adding that until his passing, he received treatment at Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek.

“At this moment of deepest sorrow, I appeal to the nation to remain calm and collected while the government attends to all necessary state arrangements, preparations and other protocols.”

Mbumba further  disclosed the cabinet will convene to make the necessary state arrangements, adding that Namibia had lost a distinguished servant of the people, liberation struggle icon, chief architect of Namibia’s constitution and pillar of the Namibian house.

Geingob, born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, was first elected president in 2014 and became Namibia’s longest serving prime minister and third president.

He was the southern African country’s first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the country’s population.

He took up activism against South Africa’s apartheid regime which at the time ruled over Namibia, from his early schooling years before being driven into exile. The deceased  spent almost three decades in Botswana and the United States.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has, on behalf of the government and people of Nigeria, extended deep condolences to the government and people of Namibia over the passing of President Hage Geingob.

A statement issued on Sunday by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), said

Tinubu mourned the painful loss of this veteran in the struggle for democracy; proponent of good governance, and advocate of economic, social, and political solidarity among African peoples.

He noted that this tragedy comes at a time when Africa needs more visionary leaders who believe in the common destiny of the continent, and who can strengthen bonds across borders and spread the tendrils of cooperation across all fields of human endeavour.