By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Namibian President Hage Geingob was laid to rest in the country’s Heroes’ Acre cemetery on Sunday following a state funeral attended by World leaders.
Geingob died earlier this month at the age of 82 while receiving treatment for cancer. He was Namibia’s third president since it gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Geingob’s widow, Monica Geingos, delivered a message at a memorial service on Saturday paying tribute to her husband’s rise from humble, rural roots to be his nation’s leader and a widely respected figure on the African continent.
“You were born a peasant and died a president,” Geingos said at the memorial service at a soccer stadium that was filled with mourners.
At his funeral on Sunday, Geingob’s coffin was draped in the Namibian flag and was carried in a glass case on the back of a military trailer.
Representatives from 27 countries attended the funeral, including Princess Anne, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Qatar President Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and 18 heads of state. The leaders of South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe all attended.
Geingob had pushed for reparations for the communities affected by the massacres more than a century ago. In 2021, the German government offered Namibia $1.1 billion in development funds to be paid over 30 years as reparations. It was rejected by the Namibian Parliament and by the communities, who asked for an improved offer.
“When I talked to Geingob for the last time last year, he spoke of his wish for the conclusion of the genocide negotiations,” Steinmeier said. “We are committed to the path of reconciliation. It is not about closing the past. It is about taking responsibility for this past and committing to a better future.”
Geingob’s final resting place will be in one of the nine mausoleums at Heroes’ Acre that have been set aside for Namibians who are awarded national hero status.
Geingob played a central role in what has become one of Africa’s most stable democracies after returning from a long exile in Botswana and the United States as an anti-apartheid activist. Namibia’s independence came after more than a century of German and then apartheid South African rule.
President Cyril Ramaphosa also expressed his condolences to the Namibian nation, calling Geingob a “strong, brave and iconic leader”.
Geingob’s successor, President Nangolo Mbumba accompanied Ramaphosa to meet Geingob’s widow Monica Geingos and family. (In the Damara language, the surname for males ends with a “b” and for women with an “s”. That’s why in the Geingo family, the late was known as Geingob while his wife is Geingos.)
Ramaphosa commended the Namibian government for leading by example with a “seamless power transition”.
Less than a day after Geingob’s death was announced, the state as per constitutional provisions swore in the 82-year-old Mbumba who had served as Geingob’s deputy.
Ramaphosa said that the transition “serves as a good example and lesson for Africa”.
Mbumba effectively became the fourth head of state since 1990 when the independence party, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) was voted into power. Namibia will elect a new president in a vote set for November.