Namibia’s Founding Father Sam Nujoma Passes Away at 95

Sam Nujoma, Namibia’s first president and a key figure in the country’s independence struggle, has died at the age of 95, leaving behind a lasting legacy.

Sam Nujoma, the passionate and white-bearded freedom fighter who guided Namibia to independence from apartheid-era South Africa in 1990 and served as its inaugural president for 15 years, earning recognition as the father of his nation, has passed away at the age of 95.

Nujoma’s passing was announced on Sunday by the current President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba. He stated that Nujoma died on Saturday night after being hospitalized in Windhoek, the capital.

“The Republic of Namibia is experiencing a period of instability,” Mbumba stated. “In the last three weeks, the Founding President and Father of our Nation has been hospitalized for medical treatment and observation due to his ill health.”

“This time, regrettably, the most valiant son of our land was unable to overcome his illness,” Mbumba added.

Mbumba stated that Nujoma “led the Namibian people through the darkest periods of our liberation struggle.”

In his arid and sparsely populated homeland in southwestern Africa, Nujoma was celebrated as a charismatic father figure who guided the nation to democracy and stability following an extended period of colonial rule by Germany and after enduring a bitter war for independence from South Africa.

For almost 30 years, he lived in exile leading the independence movement before coming back for the parliamentary elections held in late 1989, which marked the country’s first democratic vote. In early 1990, following Namibia’s confirmation of independence, legislators elected him as president.

Nujoma was among the final figures of a generation of African leaders who led their nations to independence from colonial or white minority rule, standing alongside influential individuals like South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, and Mozambique’s Samora Machel.

Many Namibians praised Nujoma’s leadership for fostering national healing and reconciliation following the profound divisions created by the independence war and South Africa’s policies of segregating the country into ethnically based regional governments, each with separate education and healthcare systems.

Even his political opponents commended Nujoma—who had been labeled a Marxist and accused of harshly suppressing dissent during his time in exile—for creating a democratic Constitution and including white businessmen and politicians in the government after independence.

Although Nujoma was known for his pragmatism and efforts in nation-building domestically, he frequently made international news due to his strong anti-Western statements. At a United Nations conference in Geneva in 2000, delegates were shocked when he asserted that AIDS was an artificially created biological weapon. He also sometimes launched verbal attacks on homosexuality, referring to gay people as “idiots” and labeling homosexuality as a “foreign and corrupt ideology.”

At one point, he prohibited all international television programs, claiming they had led to the corruption of Namibia’s youth.

Nujoma established relationships with North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and China; several of these nations had supported Namibia’s liberation movement by supplying arms and training.

However, he complemented this by engaging with the West. Nujoma became the first African leader to be welcomed at the White House by former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1993. Clinton referred to Nujoma as “the George Washington of his country” and praised him as “a genuine hero of the world’s movement toward democracy.”

Nujoma also championed the progress of women in a predominantly patriarchal area, stating that “there is no shortage of competent and experienced African women to lead the way forward.” Last year, Namibia elected its first female president, with President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah set to begin her term next month.

Nujoma was raised in a rural and impoverished family as the eldest of 11 siblings. During his early years, he focused on tending to his parents’ cattle and farming the land. He initially attended a mission school before relocating to Windhoek where he found employment with South African Railways.

He was arrested after a political protest in 1959 and soon fled the region, seeking exile in Tanzania upon his release. While in exile, he played a crucial role in founding the South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) and became its president in 1960. SWAPO has been Namibia’s ruling party since 1990, with Nujoma at its helm for an impressive 47 years until he stepped down in 2007.

When South Africa ignored a 1966 U.N. resolution that terminated its mandate over the German colony of South West Africa, which it had held since after World War I, Nujoma initiated SWAPO’s guerrilla campaign.

Nujoma once mentioned, “We began our armed struggle equipped with just two sub-machine guns and a couple of pistols. I obtained them from Algeria, along with some ammunition.”

Although SWAPO did not secure a military victory during the independence war that spanned over two decades, Nujoma gained significant political support while in exile. This led to the U.N. recognizing SWAPO as the sole representative of the Namibian people and eventually resulted in South Africa’s withdrawal from Namibia.

While interacting with world leaders, Nujoma was conscious of his limited formal education. Having left school early to enter the workforce, he later attended night classes primarily to enhance his English skills. He expressed that he chose instead to devote his life to fighting for his country’s liberation.

“While others pursued their education, I was at the forefront of the struggle,” he stated.