Hage Geingob, the incumbent President of the Republic of Namibia and the iconic revolutionary liberation movement in Namibia, Swapo, has always been a fearless man of great potential, ambitions and immeasurable strength.
In this opinion piece, I want to dwell on the remarkable principles and great characters, which is the personae of President Geingob.
It’s these qualities that have paved a way for building the foundation of a solid democracy of post-independent Namibia.
We are talking about the man who led the team that crafted the Namibian Constitution, the Constituency Assembly, giving birth not only to independent Namibia but also to the foundation of democracy in Namibia, which was a new setting in the Land of the Brave.
It was these noble great qualities and competencies possessed by comrade president that contributed to being elected as the chairperson of the Constituent Assembly, beating out Andrew Matjila to the chairmanship, chairing the sessions that were participated by 10 political parties in the process of crafting and drawing up the constitution of the independent Republic of Namibia.
The Namibian constitution has 21 chapters, among them is Chapter 3: Fundamental Human Rights and Freedom, which has laid the establishment of democracy in independent Namibia.
In most cases, less is said about comrade president’s educational background, which has nurtured and contributed to the man he is today and to the widely demonstrated personality.
He acquired his doctorate in 2004 from Leeds University, Britain, which awarded him the Doctor of Philosophy degree, his dissertation was ‘State Formation in Namibia: Promoting Democracy and Good Governance’.
Therefore, he has made a technical preparation even before becoming the country’s third president, about how best to nurture and grow the country’s democracy, and promote good governance, which can be described by open engagement and service delivery as stipulated in the Harambe Prosperity Plan (HPP).
All we hear and observe is a tremendous character assassination of his person, nothing about the selfless strides that he has so far championed for the prosperity of this great nation of the Land of the Brave.
Namibia has never had a president who is more divert, open and democratic than comrade president Hage Geingob. In the whole of Africa, very few statesmen can openly engage with the civilians or journalists, but his Excellency president Hage Geingob can do that confidently.
In fact, he finds joy in engagement and consultations. In 2019, he concluded his public visitation exercise, referred to as town hall mass meetings, whereby comrade president visited all the 14 regions where he was always met by a sea of people.
Comrade President has regularly been confronted with a lot of criticisms; he has been hurled insults and bad publicity, enduring this undeservingly. He stood firm against all these odds out of the conviction of upholding and preserving our democracy, which is facilitated and regulated by the realisation of the country’s constitution.
Democracy is the order of the day nowadays; it’s the approach, the foundation and the way to go in this Wisconsin world. Many countries and giant organisations all over the world have their growth and governance measured by evaluating how the fundamental rights of the people are protected and how justice has prevailed.
In the modern time, freedom and independence are the two important aspects that every person ensures having and securing before accepting any opportunity.
In Namibia, the head of state is the living example of democracy, and he is the testimony of living a democratic lifestyle
* Martin-Olembe Antindi
Youth leader, and activist
Oshikoto region