Namibia’s President Hage Geingob dies at 82
Namibia’s President, Hage Geingob, passed away at the age of 82 in a hospital in Windhoek, according to the presidential office. The President, who was in his second term, revealed last month that he was receiving treatment for cancer.
He was surrounded by his wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children at the time of his passing.
In a statement signed by acting president Nangolo Mbumba, it was said that a biopsy following a routine medical check-up had revealed “cancerous cells” last month. Geingob, elected president in 2014, was the longest-serving prime minister and third president of Namibia.
Mbumba expressed the nation’s loss at the passing of a distinguished servant of the people, a liberation struggle icon, the chief architect of their constitution, and the pillar of the Namibian house.
He called for calm and collectedness as the government attended to necessary state arrangements, preparations, and other protocols.
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Geingob, born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, was the country’s first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the country’s population.
He had spent almost three decades in Botswana and the United States, agitating against South Africa’s apartheid regime, which ruled over Namibia at the time.
Namibia is to hold presidential and national assembly elections towards the end of the year.
The passing of President Geingob has left the nation in mourning and the Cabinet would convene immediately to make necessary state arrangements.
Our hearts go out to Namibia and the family of President Hage Geingob as they mourn the loss of a remarkable leader.
