Namibia’s former and late president Hage Geingob, who died on February 4, has been buried at the Heroes Acre on Sunday.
He died in the hospital weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. Thousands of mourners, including 25 heads of state and former presidents were at the funeral.
Namibia went into 20 days of mourning following his death. “Your impact on us has been profound, your footprint on this nation is immense,” Nangolo Mbumba, interim president said at the funeral.
“You leave our country in better shape … You have left us with an economic roadmap towards prosperity,” he added.
— Namibian Presidency (@NamPresidency) February 25, 2024
Geingob, 82, became president in 2015, the same year he announced he had survived prostate cancer. He was was serving his second and final term in office.
The cause of his death has not been made public but late last month the presidency said he had travelled to the United States for “a two-day novel treatment for cancerous cells”, after being diagnosed following a regular medical check-up.
Geingob was born in 1941, and became a prominent politician even before Namibia achieved independence from white minority-ruled South Africa in 1990.
In 2007, he served as vice president of the governing South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).
He had joined the organisation as an agitator for independence when Namibia was still known as South West Africa.
SWAPO has remained in power in Namibia unchallenged since independence. Namibia is a former German colony, a mining hotspot with significant deposits of diamonds and the electric car battery ingredient lithium.
Source: Africafeeds.com
