Sam Nujoma (1929-2925)

Former Namibian nationalist and first president, Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, popularly known as Sam Nujoma, died on February 8, 2025, at the age of 95. The great freedom fighter and patriot fought for Namibian independence. He sacrificed personal comfort to free his country from colonial bondage and laid the foundation for its enduring democratic culture. His death, which is a great loss to Namibia, African and the world, has marked the end of a glorious era in the country. Nujoma led the long and grueling fight for Namibia’s independence from South Africa in 1990 after founding the liberation movement known as the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in the 1960s.

Nujoma passed away following a three-week hospitalisation in the capital, Windhoek, according to a statement by the Namibian president, Nangolo Mbumba.  “The foundations of the Republic of Namibia have been shaken”, the release stated, adding; “Our founding father lived a long and consequential life during which he exceptionally served the people of his beloved country.”

The late Namibian leader was a revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. He was the last of a generation of African leaders who led their countries out of colonial or white minority rule. Others were South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda and Mozambique’s Samora Machel. He led an exemplary life marked by service to his people.

Nujoma became involved in anti-colonial politics during the 1950s. In 1959, he co-founded and served as the first president of the Ovamboland People’s Organization (OPO), a nationalist organization advocating an independent Namibia. In December 1958, he was an organizer of the Old Location resistance and was arrested and deported to Ovamboland. In 1960, he escaped and went into exile in Tanzania where he was received by Julius Nyerere.

He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia’s political independence from South African rule. The OPO was renamed SWAPO in 1960. Nujoma established the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe after the United Nations (UN) withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.

 Namibia achieved independence from South Africa in 1990 and held its first democratic election the same year. SWAPO won a majority and Nujoma was sworn in as the country’s first president on March 21, 1990. He was re-elected for two more terms in 1994 and 1999. Nujoma retired as SWAPO party president on November 30, 2007.

Nujoma’s humble background and circumstances of the time, denied him opportunity of robust educational attainments. He started attending a Finnish missionary school when he was ten and completed Standard Six, which was as high as possible for blacks during the time. In 1946, at age 17, he moved to Walvis Bay to live with his aunt, where he began his first employment at a general store.  In 1949, Nujoma moved to Windhoek, where he started work as a cleaner for the South African Railways (SAR) while attending adult night school at St Barnabas Anglican Church School in the Windhoek Old Location, mainly to improve his English. He further studied for his Junior Certificate through correspondence at the Trans–Africa Correspondence College in South Africa. Namibia under him experienced good governance which manifested in infrastructure and institutional transformations. There was law and order in the country.

Nujoma’s exemplary leadership ensured national healing and reconciliation after the deep divisions caused by the war of independence. His policy of national reconciliation encouraged the country’s white community to remain and play a major role in farming and other sectors of the economy. He also championed the rights of women and children, including making fathers pay for the maintenance of children born out of wedlock. He was also known for his fierce anti-Western rhetoric and uncompromising stance against homosexuality, which he called a “foreign and corrupt ideology” and AIDS disease, which he dismissed as “a man-made biological weapon.”

African leaders and organisations have lauded the sterling qualities of the departed statesman, with African Union Commission describing him as “the epitome of courage, never wavering from his vision for a free Namibia and a unified Africa.” South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said Nujoma was an “extraordinary freedom fighter” who played a leading role in not only his country’s fight against colonialism, but also in the campaign that led to white-minority rule ending in South Africa in 1994.

  Kenya’s President William Ruto described Nujoma as a “visionary leader who dedicated his life to the liberation and development of his country.” Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, described him as a quintessential patriot and courageous leader who dedicated his life to the service of his nation.

Similarly, King Charles III of the United Kingdom eulogized Nujoma’s “lifelong commitment to freedom and democracy” and “immense” contribution to history. We commiserate with the Namibian people on the death of their leader.