Yarukeekuro Steven Ndorokaze

With Namibia preparing for the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly Elections in about three months, there will be a visible absentee. 

This year’s elections will mark the seventh time that Namibians will exercise their right to elect leaders and representatives of their choice, post-1990. Sadly, Dr Hage G Geingob will have no role whatsoever. 

His involvement in Namibian elections can be traced back to June 1989, when he returned to the motherland to spearhead Swapo’s campaign ahead of the United Nations supervised elections that paved the way for Namibia’s independence on 21 March 1990.

The political man he was, Geingob on several occasions would openly talk about the joy of the campaign season. The thorough consideration of tactics to employ, reading the political mood at the time and how fertile the ground would be to dispense political jabs at opponents, at times unprovoked. These were some of the aspects that seemingly characterised political contestations.  

His was not just a case of association, but rather one of political resilience, style and flair. For many, 27 August 2002 came from nowhere as that morning carried with it the news that for the first time since independence, we had a different Prime Minister (then second in government hierarchy) in Theo-Ben Gurirab, following a Cabinet reshuffle by Founding President Sam Nujoma, and Geingob was headed to the Regional and Local Government and Housing Ministry. 

Well, the latter never made the trip to that ministry, and simply declined the offer. 

In days to follow, Geingob failed to secure a spot on the Swapo politburo, and a few months later he was on his way to the United States to lead the Global Coalition for Africa. His move across the Atlantic Ocean led to some political commentators concluding that his political career in Namibia was sealed and had just ended, at 61. 

Well, they clearly did not know this Hage Geingob. By the end of 2004, he was in the running for a seat in the National Assembly on the Swapo ticket. Back in familiar territory, Geingob was among those taking oath for the fourth National Assembly as a backbencher, before chairing the once active Standing Committee on Economic and Public Administration. 

In 2007, he was entrusted with leading the Swapo caucus in the House as chief whip, and ended the year as party vice president without any contest. The following year saw President Hifikepunye Pohamba appointing him as the Trade and Industry minister in April. In 2012, Geingob fended off a spirited contest to retain the vice presidency of Swapo. Two days later, he was back at the government office in Robert Mugabe Street, for a second bite as the country’s fourth Prime Minister, back to where it all started for him in the post-independence era, and completing arguably the greatest 360-degree political comeback of our time, earning him the unofficial tag of ‘the comeback kid of Namibian politics’.                          

Like in football, any team that engineers a massive comeback is likely to surpass the previous leader, with the comeback ticked off, elevation was the next destination, and he was sworn in as the third Namibian president on 21 March 2015. 

In several conversations over the years regarding what kept him going and why he did not simply abandon politics in 2002, he maintained that he had been a politician for the better part of his life, and he was not about to switch careers. That response would be flavoured with a message of self-belief, confidence and dedication.

Geingob will be a sure miss during this campaign season, which is expected to gain momentum, going forward, as parties compete for access to the country’s executive power and governance. 

We are consoled by the inheritance of his teachings, which like any classical offering will remain timeless and unexpired for a while longer. The firm Namibian House, which is fully plastered to shield the often tempting divisions of race, ethnic, region and others is a real imperative for national cohesion, while of course it’s a weighted metaphor. The need for firm, reliable and effective systems, processes and institutions can’t be overemphasised. These are preconditions for a sustainable and functioning State. 

We must embed his teaching in this regard, as we seek to fully optimise the potential that Namibia possesses. Not to forget the magic formula, being accountability and transparency lead to trust. Generations to come will know that there once lived a man whose main preoccupation was to guarantee prosperity for Namibia, anchored around the need to ensure that ‘nobody should feel left out’ and all must pull in the same direction, in the spirit of ‘Harambee’, stressing that “Namibia is the only country we can call our home”.

We certainly have a lot to hold onto and to implement as guidance for the future, so in a way, we have been well-prepared or coached for the possibility of a future without Dr Hage Geingob. However, this campaign season will surely miss its ultimate comeback kid. With 3 August upon us, we will yet be reminded that birthday wishes on that day will not sound and feel the same, being a bit muted. Fact, the comeback kid of Namibian politics will not show up this season. 

*Yarukeekuro Steven Ndorokaze is a legal practitioner and communications professional. His views are his own from Oruuua.