David Junias

In an opinion article I penned on 21 June 2022 titled ‘Little Cute Mantras by the President’, I referred to his fabled mantras such as ‘the Namibian House; no one should feel left out; and Harambee’ as little cute, because these mantras have been softly spoken of, leaving out the power or the uniting power they carried.

For patriotic youth in Namibia, they should carry on these mantras to continue unity in Namibia, as late president Hage Geingob championed these mantras. We would want Namibian youth to continue with these mantras, spreading the wave of unity as the late president did.

President Hage Geingob has been described as a man who knew no race, colour or tribe; he envisioned a Namibian House solely. Yet, his philosophy of a Namibian house dates back to 2004, in his PhD dissertation centring on the State formation of Namibia. He imagined a Namibian House as a complete structure, where the building materials such as bricks represented the tribes of Namibia, but when plastered, nobody sees the bricks or the tribes; they see only a nation or house.

 Personally, as an observant primary school kid always inspired by prestigious personalities, I kept a memory of late president Hage Geingob, dating way back. 

“The first time I saw president Hage Geingob was in 2006, addressing a Swapo rally in my hometown. I couldn’t recall much about the context of his speech, even though it was translated into my vernacular; I was too young to understand at the time. The second time was in 2008 when he was inaugurating an expo in my hometown; he was the Minister of Trade and Industry at that time. He was accompanied by a young boy close to him, and I couldn’t forget the cool handshake he shared with the little boy – one of those handshakes where you do a fist bump, move it up and down, then sideways, and finally ‘touch my blood’.” 

I was fortunate to have listened to some of the impacts the president made on varying bureaucrats in Namibia, such as the Secretary to Cabinet of Namibia, Dr. George Simataa, claiming how the president taught him how to write good statements.

Some young appointed officials in late president Geingob’s administration, such as the governor of Otjozondjupa, Hon James Uerikua, described him as a father figure, teaching them about minute things like ‘dressing to kill’, or making a statement in-verbally with appearance.

I was fortunate as well to hear my contact, Mr Elvis Muraranganda, executive assistant to the Minister in the Presidency of Namibia, a co-author in a piece titled ‘The Epoch of Geingob, Xi’s Vows, and Tides’, which we did honouring the president’s legacy. Unfortunately, he
passed away soon afterwards.

Mr. Muraranganda, from his close encounters with the president, recalls
being ‘schooled’ on the principle of efficiency and effectiveness, being lectured on minute stuff that workers take for granted. He would insist that if an email is sent (being effective), one should
follow up with a call to ensure that the email is received (being efficient). It’s a loss for the Namibian nation. 

However, the youth should follow in late president Hage Geingob’s footsteps, and even continue with his vision for a ‘Namibian House’.

I urge Namibian youth to carry on late president Hage Geingob’s legacy of uniting. Long live the ‘Namibian House’; long live the government that aspires to leave no one behind. Rest in peace, rest in power, president Hage Gottfried Geingob. 

* David Junias is Youth Thought Leader. Email: davidjunias@gmail.com