Sam Nujoma passes away at 95: Know all about Namibia's fiery freedom fighter and first president

Sam Nujoma, the freedom fighter leader who led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990 and served as its first president for 15 years, has passed away at the age of 95. He died on Saturday night after a three-week hospitalisation in Windhoek, according to the Namibian presidency.

In a statement shared on Facebook, the Namibian Presidency stated, "The foundations of the Republic of Namibia have been shaken. Over the past three weeks, the Founding President of the Republic of Namibia and Founding Father of the Namibian Nation was hospitalized for medical treatment and medical observation due to ill health. Unfortunately, this time, the most gallant son of our land could not recover from his illness."

"It is with utmost sorrow and sadness that I announce this morning of the 9th of February 2025 to the Namibian people, our African brothers & sisters and the world at large, about the passing of our revered freedom fighter and revolutionary leader, H.E. Dr. Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma @DrNangoloMbumba President Nujoma passed on at the age of 95 on the 8th of February at 23h45 in Windhoek, Namibia," it added.

Hailed as Namibia's "founding father", Sam Nujoma was considered a charismatic father figure in Namibia, who steered his country to democracy and stability after colonial rule by Germany and a war of independence from South Africa, Al Jazeera reported.

Nujoma was the last of a generation of African leaders who guided their countries out of colonial rule or white minority rule that included South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Mozambique's Samora Machel. He was the head of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) that led the liberation struggle since its inception in 1960.

While SWAPO continues to remain in power since independence, he quit in 2007 at the age of 78. Many people of Namibia credit Sam Nujoma's leadership for the process of national healing and reconciliation following the deep divisions caused by the independence war and South Africa's policies of dividing the nation into ethnically based regional governments, Al Jazeera reported.

Many Namibians credited Nujoma's leadership for the process of national healing and reconciliation after the deep divisions caused by the independence war and South Africa's policies of dividing the country into ethnically based regional governments.

Political opponents also lauded Nujoma for creating a democratic constitution and involving white businessmen and politicians in government following independence. He was known for his fierce anti-Western rhetoric and for criticising homosexuality, which he termed a "foreign and corrupt ideology" and AIDS disease "a man-made biological weapon."

He was born to poor farmers from the Ovambo tribe in a village in northwestern Namibia in 1929 and was the eldest of 10 children. In his teenage years, he traced the awakening of his political consciousness when he moved to Walvis Bay town.

He resided with an aunt in a Black township at the age of 17 and was privy to adult conversations regarding the plight of people of colour under white-minority rule.

Nujoma first worked as a railway sweeper near Windhoek in 1949 while he went to night school, according to an autobiography published in 2001. While working there, he was introduced to Herero tribal chief Hosea Kutako, who was working to end apartheid rule in Namibia, then known as South West Africa, Al Jazeera reported.

Kutako became his mentor as the young Nujoma became politically active among workers of colour in Windhoek, who were resisting a government order to shift to a new township in the late 1950s. After Kutako's request, Nujoma began to live in exile in 1960, first in Botswana, leaving his wife and four children behind.

In 1960, he was elected as SWAPO president, later moving from capital to capital in the quest for support and launching a low-level armed struggle in 1966. After more than 10 years of pressure from Nujoma and others, a United Nations Security Council resolution in 1978 proposed a ceasefire and elections. The signing of the ceasefire deal took another 10 years and elections were held in late 1989.

SWAPO secured majority in those elections and Nujoma assumed office as Namibia's President in March 1990. After retiring from the presidency, he enrolled for a master's degree in geology, as he thought that Namibia's mountains contained untapped mineral wealth, according to the report.

In a statement, the Namibian Presidency stated, "Our Founding Father lived a long and consequential life during which he exceptionally served the people of his beloved country. Our Founding Father heroically marshalled the Namibian people during the darkest hours of our liberation struggle until the attainment of freedom and independence on the 21st of March 1990."

"As Founding President, His Excellency, Dr. Sam Nujoma provided maximum leadership to our nation and spared no effort to motivate each and every Namibian to build a country that would stand tall and proud among the nations of the world. In that vein, our venerable leader, Dr. Nujoma did not only blaze the trail to freedom - but he also inspired us to rise to our feet and to become masters of this vast land of our ancestors.

During this period of national mourning, we should be comforted by the unmatched leadership and extraordinary contributions of President Nujoma to the liberation struggle, the development and unity of the Namibian people," it added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)