George Sanzila
Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi has described the late revered statesman and former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari as an international civil servant who played a pivotal role in Namibia’s struggle for independence.
Ahtisaari died Monday at the age of 86 after battling Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Katjavivi, Namibia’s independence could not have been attained without Ahtisaari’s unwavering commitment and efforts.
“The success of the UN mission in Namibia is inextricably linked to Martti Ahtisaari and his dedicated team. Martti Ahtisaari was a tireless advocate for global peace and stability. As a United Nations special representative for Namibia from 1977 to 1990, his leadership was instrumental in our journey to independence. On behalf of the Namibian Parliament and its people, I express our heartfelt condolences to his wife Eeva, his son, Marco, and the entire family,” he said.
Namibia awarded Ahtisaari an honorary citizenship due to his immense contribution to the country’s independence. A school in Windhoek is also named after him.
The speaker recently met the late diplomat in 2017 when he paid him a courtesy call before proceeding to a meeting of the IPU General Assembly that was held in Russia that year. Ahtisaari pledged to continue to support Namibia and added that he was impressed with some of the developments in the country, particularly parliamentary equal gender representation.
“As an honorary citizen of Namibia, you can always count on my support. There is no country as important to me as Namibia. We serve the same values of decent healthcare, education, and overall, a fair society. I have heard many good stories including equal gender representation. It is good that we can use Namibia as an example. Keep up the good work,” said Ahtisaari at the time.
Ahtisaari, a renowned politician, diplomat, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, played a key role in Namibia’s struggle for independence. He was the UNs’ special envoy who oversaw the decolonization of Namibia.
He was known for his international peace work and has also intervened in Aceh, Kosovo, and Iraq among many other crisis-ridden countries. He was president of Finland from 1994 to 2000.
* George Sanzila works as a chief information officer in the Division of Research, Information, Publications, and Editorial Services at the National Assembly.