Namibia's first President Sam Nujoma is dead

Former Namibian President Sam Nujoma arrives for the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on December 5, 2003. Sam Nujoma, the guerrilla leader who became Namibia's first president after it won independence from South Africa in 1990, died aged 95 on February 9, 2025, the Namibian presidency said in a post on Facebook. [AFP]

Sam Nujoma, the guerrilla leader who became Namibia's first president after it won independence from South Africa in 1990, died aged 95 on Saturday, the Namibian presidency said in a post on Facebook.

Nujoma had been hospitalised over the past three weeks, battling an illness from which he "could not recover", President Nangolo Mbumba said in a statement announcing the death.

"It is therefore with utmost sorrow and sadness that I announce this morning of the 9th of February 2025 to the Namibian people, our African brothers and sisters and the world at large, about the passing of our revered freedom fighter and revolutionary leader," Mbumba said.

"Our Founding Father lived a long and consequential life during which he exceptionally served the people of his beloved country."

Born to poor farmers from the Ovambo tribe, Nujoma was the eldest of 10 children.

His first job was as a railway sweeper in 1949 while he attended night classes that spurred his political awakening.

He banded with black workers in Windhoek who were resisting a government order to move to a new township in the late 1950s.

Nujoma began a life in exile in 1960, the same year he was elected to head the South West Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO), which led the liberation struggle.

After independence, Nujoma became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.

He "inspired us to rise to our feet and to become masters of this vast land of our ancestors," President Mbumba said.