Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Online Reporter
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa on Thursday afternoon signed the Condolence Book at the Namibian Embassy in Borrowdale, Harare following the death of Namibia’s President Hage Geingob.
On Monday, Acting Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba announced that President Geingob had died in the early hours yesterday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
The 82-old leader had been diagnosed with cancer and revealed his diagnosis to the public last month.
The late President Geingob became the third President of Namibia in 2015 and was serving his second and final term in office.
He underwent an aortic operation last year, and in 2014 he revealed that he had survived prostate cancer.
In a condolence message on Monday, President Mnangagwa said the death of Namibian President Hage Geingob, has robbed SADC and the African continent at large of a Pan-Africanist, liberation stalwart and icon whose leadership will be remembered for generations.
President Geingob received his early education in Otavi before joining the Augustineum College, finishing his Teacher Training Course in 1961. He has a BA degree from Fordham University, an MA in Institute Relations from the University of New School for Social Research and a PhD from the University of Leeds.
In 1964, Dr Geingob was appointed South West Africa People Organisation (SWAPO) Representative at the United Nations and to the Americas. He remained at the UN until 1989, where he was founding director of the UN Institute for Namibia in Lusaka, Zambia. Subsequently, Dr Geingob was elected Chairman of the Constituent Assembly that was responsible for drafting the Namibian Constitution.
He served as the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, when Namibia gained independence from South Africa. In 2007 and 2012 he was appointed vice-president of SWAPO. He also served as Minister of Trade and Industry. In 2012, he was re-elected as Prime Minister until his presidential victory in 2015.
Online Reporter