Namibia’s founding president Sam Nujoma dies at 95

File picture: Sam Nujoma (Image credit score: AP)

Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s first president and the chief who guided the nation to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990, died on Saturday on the age of 95.
His loss of life was introduced by Namibia’s present president Nangolo Mbumba on Sunday. He mentioned that Nujoma handed away in a hospital in Windhoek after being unwell for 3 weeks, New York Occasions reported.
Nujoma was a key determine in Namibia’s liberation battle, heading the South West Africa Folks’s Group (SWAPO) since its formation in 1960. He led a Soviet-backed guerrilla military in a protracted battle towards South Africa, which had occupied Namibia regardless of worldwide condemnation.
Whereas Nujoma himself didn’t take part instantly in fight, he was the face of the resistance, balancing diplomacy with armed battle.
Independence was in the end achieved via a US-brokered settlement, which noticed South Africa withdraw from Namibia in alternate for the elimination of Cuban troops from Angola, accordng to the New York Occasions. Regardless of being excluded from negotiations, Nujoma grew to become Namibia’s first president and remained in energy for 15 years, securing a constitutional modification to run for a 3rd time period in 1999.
His management helped carry nationwide reconciliation and financial stability to Namibia, with even political opponents acknowledging his position in uniting a deeply divided nation, as per the information company AP.
Nevertheless, Nujoma was additionally identified for his autocratic tendencies, anti-Western rhetoric, and controversial stances, together with his help for Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and his harsh anti-homosexuality remarks. In 2001, he warned that gays and lesbians can be arrested, jailed, or deported.
Regardless of his fiery management type, Nujoma remained a revered determine in Namibia. His picture seems on nationwide foreign money, and a six-meter-tall statue stands exterior the Namibian Independence Museum. Even after retirement, he remained politically vocal, calling for renegotiation of Germany’s compensation for its colonial-era genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples, as per AFP.
A logo of Africa’s independence period, Nujoma’s legacy locations him amongst figures like Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda, and Samora Machel.