Tomas Nehale
There is nothing painful like the death of a national leader - someone who was dear to the hearts of his followers. In the early morning of 4 February 2024, the Namibian nation suffered a gloomy shockwave when saddening news spread all over the country and beyond that. His Excellency Dr. Hage Geingob had passed away in a local hospital at the age of 82 – a few weeks after he was diagnosed with cancerous cells.
The Namibian nation has lost a distinguished servant of the people, the first prime minister, and third president of the Republic of Namibia, a liberation struggle icon, the chief architect of our constitution, and the pillar of the Namibian House. Therefore, without fear any of contradiction, I would locate his life and works in a league of African heroes who immeasurably loved their nations and made tangible socio-economic improvements, namely Kwame Francis Nkrumah, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe and Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, just to mention but a few. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
President Geingob always bore his nation at heart, and this was evident at his inaugural address when he rhetorically declared that “all of us must play our part in the success of this beautiful house we call Namibia. We need to renew it from time to time by undergoing renovations and extensions. Let us stand together in building this new Namibian house, in which no Namibian will feel left
out.”
Thus, it is difficult to pay tribute to this fascinating and stalwart leader who did a myriad miracles in normal but extraordinary ways - yet amazing to uplift the Namibian nation. In a nutshell, his unwavering contribution to youth empowerment, enhancing socio-economic development, fostering unity, peace and justice - shall never be forgotten. Also, his benevolent heart towards the elderly citizens as well as orphans and vulnerable children will always be cherished. We will surely miss his dancing moves, jokes and laughter.
There is an Oshiwambo adage that says “ngoka eshi uunkongo wondjamba, haangoka ashike haka konga ondjamba, naangoka e enda nomukongo, ota vulu okuya muukongo wondjamba wuna omukongo kehepo we”. To literally translate it; “he who knows how to hunt an elephant isn’t necessarily the only one who would successfully hunt the elephant, but even those who usually accompany the hunter would be able to hunt down the elephant in the absence of the expert hunter”. To juxtapose this, president Geingob has ran his relay race, although he did not cross the finishing line, his relay baton has been constitutionally passed on to his interim successor, the former vice president Dr. Nangolo Mbumba. Therefore, the rest is upon us to have hope and faith in the latter for him to tightly hold the baton and cross the finishing line without dropping it, until he prospectively delivers the Namibian nation to the land of milk and honey. I, and hopefully the whole nation, is glad that a smooth transition of power was promptly done as per Article 34 of the Namibian Constitution in order to maintain peace, security and calmness among the nation.
Ironically, president Geingob succeeded a hot throne and a corrupt government system, which he and his Cabinet have tried to redeem with the limited resources at their disposal. As a brutal matter of fact, president Geingob did not dismally fail nor maladminister his nation, but some of those whom he entrusted with power and the office-bearers failed him. As a result, most of them detested and called him names for no rational reasons. So, may God forgive them, for they don’t know what they were doing.
It is not easy to lead to lead a nation because you can’t satisfy everyone, and not everybody would like you. As Mark Twain would say, “one mustn’t criticise other people on grounds where he can’t stand perpendicular himself”.
In conclusion, in the book of Ecclesiastes there are courageous Scriptures that read “for surely no one knows when their hour will come, as fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.” My condolences to the bereaved family, madam Geingos, the children and the entire nation at large. President Geingob is such a fallen tree which has a good shade, but it is not yet uprooted. Indeed, he left a praiseworthy legacy. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
* Tomas Nehale is a part-time political commentator.