Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s independence leader, has been laid to rest in a state funeral. Thousands of Namibians have already paid homage to the widely revered former president in almost a month of official mourning.
Sam Nujoma, the guerilla leader who led Namibia to independence from South Africa, was buried on Saturday, with numerous foreign leaders and dignitaries in attendance.
His funeral took place at Heroes’ Acre, a memorial outside the capital, Windhoek, dedicated to those who died in the country’s struggle for freedom.
Nujoma died on February 8, aged 95, triggering nearly a month of homage during which his body was transported the full length of the country before lying in state on Friday.
Nujoma ‘the most distinguished son of the soil’
Several African leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and former President Thabo Mbeki, ex-Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Angola’s Joao Lourenco and Emmerson Mnangagwa from Zimbabwe, attended the burial at the Heroes’ Acre, alongside thousands of normal Namibians.
In opening remarks at the ceremony, Namibia’s President Nangolo Mbumba called Nujoma “the most distinguished son of the soil” and a “giant” among leaders.
“You were the ultimate statesman,” he said, adding: “May your legacy become a source of strength as we continue to uphold your command of maintaining unity of purpose.”
“We fought under your command, … won the liberation struggle, and forever removed apartheid colonialism from the face of Namibia,” Mbumba said.
From railway sweeper to president
Nujoma, born the eldest of 10 children, first worked as a railway sweeper.
However, the night classes he attended simultaneously led to a political awakening, and he joined Black workers in Windhoek in the late 1950s to resist an order from the South Africa-led government to move to a new township.
In 1960, while in exile, he was elected as head of the South West People’s Organization (SWAPO), which six years later began an armed struggle against apartheid South Africa after it refused a UN order to give up its mandate over Namibia, a former German colony.
After independence was achieved, Nujoma became president in 1990 and remained in the post for three terms until 2005, a time during which the country experienced relative prosperity and political stability.
However, he faced criticism over his intolerant attitude toward media coverage critical of his person, his vehement rejection of homosexuality and a constitutional amendment in 1998 allowing him to run for a third term.
Namibia, under the name German South West Africa, was a German colony from 1884 till 1915, when Germany’s genocidal rule was ended by South African troops in the course of World War One.
South Africa then occupied the country, holding onto power there and applying apartheid until 1990, despite the UN’s 1973 recognition of SWAPO as the official representative of the Namibian people.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
DW News
