Namibia’s 82-year-old President Hage Geingob passed away in a hospital on Sunday following a recent cancer diagnosis, according to a statement from the presidency. Geingob, who had led the sparsely populated southern African nation since 2015, succumbed to the illness weeks after undergoing a novel cancer treatment in the United States.
The presidency, in a social media post, did not disclose the cause of death but had earlier announced Geingob’s trip to the U.S. for specialized cancer treatment. Vice President Nangolo Mbumba will assume leadership until the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections later this year.
Born in 1941, Geingob played a pivotal role in Namibia’s path to independence from South Africa in 1990. He chaired the constitution-drafting body and served as the country’s first prime minister until 2002. Geingob later became vice president of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in 2007, a party he had joined as an advocate for independence when Namibia was still known as South West Africa.
Despite SWAPO’s continuous dominance in Namibian politics, Geingob acknowledged the challenges of post-independence development, emphasizing the need to break the chains of historical injustices. Over the years, he held various key positions, including trade and industry minister, before returning as prime minister in 2012.
Geingob won the 2014 election with 87% of the vote but faced increased scrutiny in the wake of a 2019 government bribery scandal. The controversy involved officials allegedly granting fishing quotas to Iceland’s Samherji in exchange for kickbacks, resulting in the resignation of two ministers.
In addressing the persistent issue of wealth disparity, Geingob acknowledged the historical racial divide but cautioned against a simplistic approach of redistributing wealth from whites to Blacks. His comments came after the government abandoned a policy requiring white-owned businesses to sell a 25% stake to Black Namibians.
Geingob’s death occurred at Lady Pohamba Hospital in Windhoek, where he was under the care of his medical team, according to the presidency. The nation now mourns the loss of a prominent figure who played a crucial role in shaping Namibia’s post-independence trajectory.
