Namibia binds farewell to its founding leader Sam Nujoma » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 1 — Deputy President Kithure Kindiki is among African leaders gathered in Windhoek as Namibia lays to rest its founding leader Sam Nujoma.

Kindiki arrived in Namibia on Friday ahead of the State Funeral at Horoes Acre, the nation’s official burial place for its leaders.

Nujoma died at the age of 95 in the capital Windhoek on February 10.

He led the long fight for independence from South Africa in 1990 after helping found Namibia’s liberation movement known as the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) in the 1960s.

Nujoma subsequently became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.

He retired as head of state in 2005, but continued to lead the party before stepping down in 2007 as president of the ruling Swapo party after 47 years at the helm.

He is widely credited for ensuring peace and stability after independence from South Africa, which was then under white-minority rule, in 1990.

Nujoma’s policy of national reconciliation encouraged the country’s white community to remain, and they still play a major role in farming and other sectors of the economy.

His final salute included a country-wide tour of the nation, with the military taking his remains to regional capitals as part of an elaborate mourning period leading to his burial on Saturday.

The State Funeral is the second in just year with Namibia having laid to rest President Hage Geingob, its third leader, who died in office on February 4, 2024.

Geingob was laid to rest on February 25.