Windhoek [Namibia], February 9 ANI : Sam Nujoma, the freedom fighter leader who led Namibia to independence from apartheid South Africa in and served as its first president for 15 years, has passed away at the age of 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. 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. 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.
