WINDHOEK – Namibia’s Founding President Sam Nujoma has described the late Zimbabwean former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe as one of the continent’s most iconic leaders who fought for the liberation of his country and that of Africa at large.
Mugabe, who died on Friday in Singapore at the age of 95, is scheduled to be buried on Sunday, September 15, in a location yet to be determined, the Zimbabwean presidency announced Sunday.
Both Nujoma and the late Mugabe in 2002 during the earth summit in Johannesburg made headlines in British media after criticising then British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his intervention in African affairs.
Blair was in the audience when the pair told him off.
During the summit Nujoma criticised Blair for contributing to southern Africa’s problems.
“We here in Southern Africa have one big problem, created by the British. The honorable Tony Blair is here, and he created the situation in Zimbabwe,” Nujoma said at the summit.
When the late Mugabe took to the podium, he concurred with Nujoma’s sentiments.
“So Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe,” said Mugabe, to thundrous of applause from the conference hall.
Nujoma, 90, on Saturday released an official video message through the Sam Nujoma Foundation, saying he is devastated by the death of Mugabe who he described as a Pan-Africanist and dear brother.
“He will be remembered as one who stood firm when others wavered. He was an iconic Pan-Africanist. On behalf of the veterans of the Namibian liberation struggle stewards and my own behalf, I wish to express our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the family and the entire revolutionary people of Zimbabwe,” Nujoma said.
Furthermore, former President Hifikepunye Pohamba in an official video message shared with the media said that to him Mugabe was a trusted brother and he gained a lot from Mugabe when he was a freedom fighter, minister and also when he became President.
Mugabe served as Zimbabwe’s prime minister since the country’s independence, before taking over the presidency in 1987. He held the position for three decades until he was ousted in 2017.