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Namibian President Hage Geingob (82) died yesterday (Sunday) while undergoing treatment for cancer treatment that afflicted him. Geingob has been president of the southern African nation since 2015 and was set to finish his second and final term in office this year. Earlier, Geingob was the Prime Minister of the country since 1990.
Namibian President Hage Geingob (82) died yesterday (Sunday) while undergoing treatment for cancer treatment that afflicted him. Geingob has been president of the southern African nation since 2015 and was set to finish his second and final term in office this year. Earlier in 2015, Geingob was the Prime Minister of the country since 1990.
Angolo Mbumba, Namibia’s acting president, has been sworn in as the President for the remaining term of the current presidency which will end by November this year. He called for calm and assured that Namibia would hold elections to choose a new leader in November and pre-empted him being an aspirant for that position. A veteran of the country’s independence struggle, Geingob had been diagnosed with cancer and revealed the details to the public last month.
Leaders from around the world have been sending condolence messages with many talking about Geingob’s efforts to ensure his country’s freedom. Among them has been Cyril Ramaphosa, president of neighbouring South Africa, who described him as “a towering veteran of Namibia’s liberation from colonialism and apartheid”.
Geingob led the movement against apartheid South Africa, which had effectively annexed the country, then known as South West Africa, and introduced its system of legalized racism that excluded black people from political and economic power.
Geingob lived in exile for 27 years, spending time in Botswana, the US, and the UK, where he studied for a PhD in politics. He came back to Namibia in 1989, a year before the country gained independence. Geingob returned from exile in 1989, a year before independence. Geingob first became president in 2015. He had already been the country’s longest-serving prime minister – in the post for 12 years from 1990 and then again for a shorter stint in 2012. But going by results at the ballot box, his popularity had declined. In the 2014 election, he won a huge majority, taking 87% of the vote. But five years later that had fallen to 56%.
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Geingob’s first term coincided with a stagnant economy and high levels of unemployment and poverty. His party also faced several corruption scandals during his time in office.
