Namibia’s First President and Freedom Fighter Sam Nujoma Dies at 95

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He spent nearly 30 years in exile as the leader of its independence movement before returning for Parliamentary elections in late 1989, the first democratic vote in the country. He was elected president by lawmakers months later in 1990 as Namibia’s independence was confirmed.

Sam Nujoma, the freedom fighter who led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 and served as its first president for 15 years, and became known as the father of his nation, has died. He was 95.

Nujoma’s death was announced Sunday by current Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba, who said Nujoma died on Saturday night after being hospitalised in the capital, Windhoek.

Mbumba said Nujoma marshalled the Namibian people during the darkest hours of our liberation struggle. Nujoma was revered in his arid, sparsely populated homeland in southwestern Africa as a charismatic father figure who steered it to democracy and stability after long colonial rule by Germany and a bitter war of independence from South Africa.

He spent nearly 30 years in exile as the leader of its independence movement before returning for Parliamentary elections in late 1989, the first democratic vote in the country. He was elected president by lawmakers months later in 1990 as Namibia’s independence was confirmed.

Nujoma was the last of a generation of African leaders who brought their countries out of colonial or white minority rule that included South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere and Mozambique’s Samora Machel.

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Nujoma built ties with North Korea, Cuba, Russia and China, some of which had supported Namibia’s liberation movement by providing arms and training.