Namibia's President Hage G. Geingob, who assumed office in 2015 and had previously held the position of prime minister following the nation's independence, passed away early on Sunday. He was 82.
“It is with utmost sadness and regret that I inform you that our beloved Dr Hage G Geingob, the president of the republic of Namibia has passed on today,” said a statement on Sunday from the acting president, Nangolo Mbumba.
“At his side, was his dear wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children.”
Last year, the late president revealed that he had undergone aortic surgery in neighbouring South Africa.
About The Late President
Hage G. Geingob was born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941. He was engaged in activism against South Africa's apartheid regime, which held sway over Namibia during his early schooling years, ultimately leading him into exile.
He spent almost three decades in Botswana and the US, leaving the former for the latter in 1964. While in the US, he actively advocated for Namibia’s independence, representing the local liberation movement, Swapo, now the ruling party, at the UN and across the Americas.
When Swapo won the inaugural elections in 1990, Geingob became prime minister, holding the position for 12 years. He returned to the prime ministerial post in 2012, and in 2014, following another successful party vote, he assumed the presidency, with the party securing a comfortable win.
A passionate football fan, Geingob actively played the sport in his youth, earning the nickname "Danger Point". In his personal life, he had three marriages in 1967, 1993, and 2015.
