Nujoma rose to head the lightly populated southern African country on March 21 1990 and was formally recognized as 'Founding Father of the Namibian Nation' through a 2005 act of parliament.
He was a longtime ally of Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe, backing Mugabe's land seizures from white farmers, though at home Nujoma stuck to a 'willing buyer, willing seller' policy.
'The foundations of the Republic of Namibia have been shaken. 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,' the presidency posted on X.
The presidency said Nujoma had been hospitalized for medical treatment over the past three weeks, adding: 'Unfortunately, this time, the most gallant son of our land could not recover from his illness.'
Nujoma served his three terms as president from 1990 to 2005 and sought to project himself as a unifying leader bridging political divides. In a country scarred by the legacy of apartheid and German colonial rule, Nujoma's SWAPO party oversaw a national reconciliation programme under the motto 'One Namibia, One Nation'.
In his speeches, Nujoma made a point of repeating the phrase: 'A united people, striving to achieve a common good for all members of the society, will always emerge victorious.' His achievements included establishing democratic institutions and prioritizing reconciliation.
Nujoma was born in a village in northwestern Namibia in 1929, when his country was under South African administration. SA had controlled Namibia since World War 1 after a brutal few decades of German colonial rule remembered for the genocide of the Herero and Nama people.
As a boy he looked after his family's cattle and attended a Finnish mission school, before moving to the coastal town of Walvis Bay and then the capital Windhoek, where he worked for South African Railways, according to a biography posted on the website of Nujoma's charitable foundation.
Nujoma left his job on the railways to focus his energies on bringing down the apartheid system. In the late 1950s he became leader of the Owambo People's Organisation, a precursor to liberation movement SWAPO, organizing resistance to the forced relocation of Black people in Windhoek that culminated in the police killing 12 unarmed people and wounding dozens more.
Nujoma was charged with organizing the resistance and arrested. In 1960, he went into exile. He travelled across Africa before reaching the US, where he petitioned the United Nations for Namibia's independence.
Made SWAPO leader in absentia, Nujoma established its armed wing and in 1966 launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government.
It took more than a decade of pressure from Nujoma and others before a UN Security Council resolution in 1978 proposed a ceasefire and elections, and another decade for the ceasefire deal to be signed and elections held in late 1989.
SWAPO won a majority in those elections, and Nujoma took office in March the following year.
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/namibia-s-founding-father-sam-nujoma-dies-aged-95
