“We have good standing in Africa and in the world. Many people think we have a very good approach to governance. Our governance architecture is admired.
They say a prophet is not respected in his own country. We can only recognise you when you are dead,” President Hage Geingob said during one of his last interviews with the local media.
That was two years ago, on the eve of his 80th birthday, in an interview with New Era’s former managing editor Festus Nakatana.
The President then spoke of challenges besetting the country, his legacy, as well as the succession battle in the ruling party.
In this piece, we go down memory lane to reflect on the legacy President Geingob lives behind, with his name etched in gold in the annals of history.
President Geingob was in his second and final presidential term, which he dubbed ‘The Legacy Term’, signifying his preparedness to leave office peacefully on 21 March 2025.
Geingob also christened 2024 as ‘The Year of Expectation’.
“We are on course in our ambition to leave Namibia in better shape, come March 2025. The foundations of the Namibian House have been strengthened. Namibia is on course for a sustainable economic revival,” he said in his New Year’s message on the last day of 2023.
But as fate would have it, it was not to be, and Geingob will not be around to see through his presidential tenure.
Also yesterday, in the giant shoes of Geingob stepped in former Vice President Nangolo Mbumba, who was sworn in as the new president of the country for the remainder of Geingob’s term.
Geingob died yesterday, following his return after medical treatment in the United States of America, where he underwent a novel medical therapy.
He never shied away from being transparent around matters of his health since assuming public office.
President Geingob returned Wednesday night, following a two-day treatment for cancerous cells.
In 2013, the anti-apartheid activist-turned-politician underwent brain surgery, and the following year he revealed that he had survived prostate cancer.
Last year, Geingob announced he had undergone aortic surgery in neighbouring South Africa.
He was an ardent believer in strong democratic systems, processes and institutions, whose approach to governance always leaned towards collectivism rather than a “one-man show”.
Geingob, Namibia’s first Prime Minister and third democratically-elected head of state, was a staunch anti-graft activist, religious preacher of the transparency gospel – which was evidenced by his continued openness about his own private life, including his medical status – until the time of his untimely demise.
Loved and loathed in almost equal measure in their extremes, it could be deduced from Namibians and world leaders alike that certain things about Geingob set him apart, head and shoulders above the rest.
He was an astute statesman, sharp technocrat credited for setting up Namibia’s governance architecture and a shrewd politician, whose political moves were always calculated to the smallest of detail, leaving little to no room for error.
Genesis
Born Hage Gottfried Geingob on 3 August 1941 at a place called Sabis in the Grootfontein district, he rose to the
highest office in the land from humble beginnings.
He grew up at a farm called //Kharases, Otjikururume, which is 30km out of Otavi. It is in Otavi that Geingob received his early education before heading to Augustineum – a then mecca of academic excellence – in 1958.
In 1960, he was expelled from Augustineum for having participated in a march in protest at the poor quality of education and food. He was, however, readmitted and finished the teacher training course in 1961.
Upon completion of his studies, he took up a teaching position at the Tsumeb Primary School, but decided that he could not continue his own further education in Namibia. As a teacher, he also resented being forced to participate in the Bantu Education System.
Fast forward, Geingob jetted off to the United States in 1964 to study at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was granted a scholarship.
He obtained a BA degree from Fordham University in New York City in 1970, and an MA degree in International Relations from the Graduate Faculty of The New School, New York in 1974.
In 1964, he was appointed as Swapo’s representative at the United Nations and to the Americas, a position he served until 1971. Geingob in this role criss-crossed the United States, taking Namibia’s struggle for self-determination to a global audience.
His tireless efforts and those of his colleagues ultimately forced the United Nations General Assembly to recognise Swapo as the sole and authentic representative of the people of Namibia.
Namibia’s diplomatic struggle in the international arena for an armed struggle which was launched in 1966, eventually led to the independence of Namibia in 1990.
The rise
Having chaired the Constituent Assembly which culminated in Namibia’s globally- acclaimed constitution, Founding President Sam Nujoma would appoint Geingob as the first Prime Minister of his administration, a position he filled until 2002. Geingob is credited for having set up Namibia’s government architecture from the ground up.
Institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) are said to be his brainchild.
As technocrat, Geingob is said to have paid attention to detail, an expedient implementer and brilliant time manager, traits which were evident even during his nine years at the helm of the land.
Politics
Immediately after independence in 1991, Swapo held its first congress to set its policies in motion. Geingob was among the bigwigs.
That year, the congress mainly focused on uniting party cadres, those who went into exile during the liberation struggle and those who stayed home to fight the apartheid regime from within.
Again, in 1997, delegates converged to elect its top four leaders and central committee members.
During that congress, the position of party president, occupied by Founding President Sam Nujoma, was uncontested, as he sought to secure a third term as head of state. Nujoma had his way through a constitutional amendment, midwifed by Geingob, a year later.
The position of party VP was the hot topic, as it pitted the powerful prime minister Geingob against the late reverend Hendrik Witbooi.
Although Geingob enjoyed Nujoma’s support, he lost to Witbooi.
Witbooi, a clergyman, was allegedly fielded in the race to simply curtail Geingob’s influence in Swapo as he was seen as the heir to Nujoma’s throne at party and State level.
Fallout
The 1997 dust refused to settle when the delegates met in 2002 for a similar exercise.
What featured predominantly in the news at the time was the rift between Geingob and Nujoma.
That year, Nujoma fired Geingob as his Prime Minister, offering him the position of local government minister. Geingob promptly resigned, and jetted off to the United States.
It was at that congress where former president Hifikepunye Pohamba [Swapo SG then] was voted in as party VP, which effectively catapulted him to pole position to replace Nujoma.
Although featuring nowhere at the watershed extraordinary congress in
2004, this gathering would play a crucial role in Geingob’s trajectory three years later.
In 2004, Nujoma backed Pohamba – then Swapo vice president – as his preferred candidate. Nujoma’s blessing, however, did not deter party veterans such as the late Hidipo Hamutenya and Nahas Angula from challenging Pohamba.
A re-run was required between Hamutenya and Pohamba to determine the eventual victor.
Pohamba won the battle for the party vice presidency, while he was also confirmed as the Swapo candidate for the general elections in 2004.
Comeback
In 2007, Nujoma would exit the political stage, forever, leaving Pohamba in charge of the ruling party and country. At that congress, Geingob returned from the political wilderness after a brief stint in America. Senior Swapo leaders, including Pohamba and Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, backed Geingob at that congress.
With his popularity at its peak, Jerry Ekandjo was seen as the only stumbling block between Geingob and the VP position.
Ekandjo withdrew from the race, and allowed Geingob to run unopposed.
That year, then Swapo diehards – Hamutenya, Jeremiah Nambinga, Kandy Nehova, Jesaya Nyamu and Mike Kavekotora – left the ruling party en masse to form the Rally for Democracy and Progress after the dust from 2004 refused to settle.
Ideal candidate
In 2012, again, Pohamba endorsed Geingob as his ideal candidate for the position of vice president.
Geingob faced stiff competition from Ekandjo and Iivula-Ithana.
He saw off his competitors.
The 2017 congress saw slate politics dominate, with Geingob’s Team Harambee going toe-to-toe against Team Swapo. That congress was also marred by allegations of vote-buying and election-rigging.
Alas, Team Harambee annihilated its competition, sealing all top four positions and a greater chunk of central committee seats, effectively pushing Team Swapo into a state of permanent paralysis.
Presidential
On 21 March 2015, Geingob would ascend to the highest office in the land in what would be the icing on the cake for a politician who had seen it all.
Geingob admitted that he inherited a “broke” government from his predecessor.
He was ambitious. In his first term, he promised to deliver economic prosperity for all Namibia through his blueprint – the Harambee Prosperity Plan.
It is, however, an open secret Geingob’s ambitious dream struggled to take off.
His presidency was also marred by a global commodity crisis in 2016, which led to protracted declines in government revenue, affecting the implementation of the ambitious development and infrastructure manifesto the government had planned to implement in the noble pursuit of prosperity for all.
Between 2016 and 2019, the country experienced the most severe droughts to be recorded in Namibian history, forcing the government to redirect more than N$3 billion to drought relief programmes.
As if this was not enough, in came the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, which brought the planet to a standstill.
“Namibians from all walks of life lost their loved ones; lockdowns impacted sectors of our economy; businesses closed down; and job losses occurred in the services’ sector, specifically in tourism,” Geingob recalled in his New Year’s message.
However, at the time of his passing, Geingob was optimistic that he would leave Namibia in better shape.
His second term will be remembered
for several potentially lucrative offshore oil and gas discoveries, as well as his flagship green hydrogen project
which attracted massive interest internationally. If successful, these plans will make Namibia a major international energy player.
– emumbuu@nepc.com.na