The revolutionary chief who liberated Namibia

Revered as “father of the nation” and the icon of Namibia’s liberation battle, Sam Nujoma lived as much as these expectations in additional methods than one.

His heat, broad smile and easy-going method made him likeable and accessible.

Whether or not donning a tracksuit to affix a fun-run alongside Windhoek’s Independence Avenue, or insisting his driver grasp again from official motorcades, he aimed to be a person of the individuals.

Now, 4 a long time after main Namibia by way of a bitter guerrilla warfare in opposition to South Africa’s racist apartheid authorities and on to independence, Nujoma has died aged 95.

He died on Saturday after being in hospital for 3 weeks as a result of “ailing well being”, President Nangolo Mbumba introduced in a press release, including that the loss of life had “shaken” the nation.

The large who formed Namibia’s nationwide identification leaves a void few can hope to fill.

Namibia, beforehand referred to as South West Africa, suffered a long time of looting and colonial violence by the hands of Europeans who had flocked to the nation across the flip of the twentieth Century.

Beginning in 1904, German colonisers killed tens of hundreds of Namibians in what has been dubbed the world’s “forgotten genocide”. German officers used black Africans as guinea pigs for horrific crimes later repeated by the Nazis throughout the Holocaust.

Namibia was beneath German occupation from 1884 till 1915, when Germany misplaced its colony in World Conflict One.

Namibia then fell beneath the rule of white South Africa, which prolonged its racist legal guidelines to the nation, denying black Namibians any political rights, in addition to proscribing social and financial freedoms.

The introduction of sweeping apartheid laws led to a guerrilla warfare of independence breaking out in 1966.

By this stage, Nujoma was already concerned within the battle in opposition to white-minority rule.

The self-confessed “elder son of a peasant household” from the northern village of Etunda had a modest begin in life, with little greater than a major faculty schooling.

Married to Kovambo Theopoldine Katjimune with whom he had 4 youngsters, and dealing on a railway, he held a deep ardour for politics and yearned to see his individuals free from the injustice and indignity of colonialism.

Inspiration got here within the tales of early Namibian resistance leaders, resembling Hendrik Witbooi, who fought in opposition to the Germans within the Eighties.

By 1959, Nujoma had turn out to be the pinnacle of the Owamboland Peoples organisation, the independence motion that was a forerunner to Swapo.

A yr later, aged 30, Nujoma was pressured into exile. With no passport, he used his crafty to undertake completely different personas and blagged his method onto trains and planes – ending up in Zambia and Tanzania earlier than heading to West Africa.

With the assistance of Liberian authorities who had been early backers of black Namibians’ push for independence, Nujoma flew to New York and petitioned the UN to assist grant Namibia its independence – however South Africa refused.

Nujoma was branded a “Marxist terrorist” by South Africa’s white leaders for main forces that fought alongside the anti-apartheid motion, posing a formidable problem to the oppressive regimes in a number of southern African nations.

With help from Cuban troops who had been preventing in neighbouring Angola, Swapo guerrillas had been capable of assault South African bases in Namibia.

Getting back from exile, Nujoma was swiftly rearrested by the South African authorities and deported to Zambia six years later.

“We knew that solely army power and mass political mobilisation backed by the help of the individuals would power South Africa out of Namibia,” Nujoma narrated in his autobiography The place Others Wavered, which was revealed in 2001.

He led Swapo forces from exile, earlier than returning to the nation in 1989, a yr after South Africa had agreed to Namibian independence.

South Africa was turning into extra remoted internationally and the price of army intervention was growing. Namibia lastly gained independence in 1990 after nearly 25 years of warfare.

In Namibia’s first democratic elections in 1990, Swapo received an enormous majority and Nujoma turned the nation’s first president.

Nujoma was particularly involved with the plight of kids, introducing upkeep funds obliging absent fathers to contribute to the price of elevating their offspring.

He additionally championed the development of ladies, serving to to vary conventional patriarchal practices that pressured widows out of the household house as soon as their husband died.

He additionally appeared eager to protect stability to make sure growth efforts had been supported by worldwide donors.

Nujoma was re-elected for 2 extra phrases in 1994 and 1999 – when he was criticised for having the structure modified in order that he might stand for a 3rd time period in workplace.

When criticised for his model of presidency or questioned about his get together’s political previous, the vast smile might flip bitter. Pointing a finger at whoever dared overtly query or criticise, he would typically lose his countenance and hurl insults.

He overtly abhorred same-sex relationships, however by no means went so far as altering the structure or the legislation to make them unlawful.

Nujoma all the time valued his shut friendship with Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, but as Namibia’s president he largely steered away from open aggression in opposition to those that didn’t agree with him.

Nonetheless by way of the Swapo equipment, he would fairly fortunately exert strain on the widespread man to tow the get together line and permit the get together to delve into authorities coffers to make sure continued rule.

Nujoma’s cupboard was typically dictated to slightly than reaching choices by joint debate, such was his energy.

When he stepped down as president in 2005 and as Swapo president in 2007 after serving because the get together chief for 47 years – he handed energy to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba.

Even after leaving workplace, Nujoma nonetheless wielded appreciable energy over the get together and authorities from behind the scenes.

But his achievements whereas in workplace are plain, with many Namibians praising him for main the nation’s clean transition to democratic rule.

Since independence, Namibia has been seen as one in every of Africa’s success tales, with common peaceable and democratic elections.

And, regardless of the humiliations and injustices heaped upon black Namibians by white colonisers, Nujoma upheld the nation’s structure in safeguarding the fundamental rights of all Namibians no matter their race or color.

The coverage of nationwide reconciliation inspired the nation’s white neighborhood to stay, and so they nonetheless play a significant position in farming and different financial sectors.

Nujoma’s capacity to unify a nation of three million individuals – throughout 10 ethnic and linguistic communities – received him many admirers.

In recognition of his towering achievement, the Namibian parliament granted him the official standing of “Founding Father of Namibia” in 2005. Quite a few worldwide honours included the Lenin Peace Prize, the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize and the Ho Chi Minh Peace Prize.

In his latter years, Nujoma disappeared from the limelight, preferring as a substitute to spend time together with his massive household.

He’s remembered for his straightforward attraction and unwavering conviction – father not simply to a household however an entire nation.

Further reporting by Natasha Booty