Johannesburg, Feb 24 (EFE). – Hundreds of citizens and more than a dozen African and world leaders bid farewell to the late President of Namibia, Hage Geingob, who died on Feb. 4 at the age of 82, at a solemn state funeral on Saturday.
“Go well comrade Dr. Hage G. Geingob. Go well, our beloved president, our leader. Go well, our hero,” Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the country’s vice president, said emotionally at the ceremony.
The funeral took place at the Independence Stadium in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, where hundreds of people came to bid farewell to Geingob, who was praised by his colleagues from across Africa as a defender of the continent.
After the coffin arrived at the stadium at around noon and was greeted by a military band, it was carried on the shoulders of members of the Namibian Defense Force to the main tent set up at the venue, which could be reached by walking on a red carpet.
Among those carrying the coffin were the president’s eldest son, Mangaliso Fernandez Geingob, opposition leader McHenry Venaani and former minister and veteran of the ruling South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO), which Geingob led, Ben Amathila.
Before the coffin was draped in the Namibian flag – red, green and blue, with a yellow sun – various African leaders paid their respects one after the other and also dedicated heartfelt words to the late president.
Presidents of South Africa, Cyril Rampahosa; Kenya, William Ruto; Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa; Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi; and Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, among others, attended the ceremony.
Also present was Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president of Germany, the former metropolis of the African country, who expressed his “commitment to the path of reconciliation” referring to the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples by the German Empire in the early 20th century.
“I hope I will be able to return to his country. I believe it is high time to tender an apology to Namibia. My only regret is that Geingob will not be there to close the process he started,” Steinmeier said.
The 1941-born Namibian leader was due to end his second and final term in 2024, having presided over the country since 2015, after revealing that he had survived prostate cancer in 2014, when he was prime minister.
On Jan. 19 last year, the presidency announced that he had been diagnosed with the disease again.
The late president will be buried this Sunday at the Acre of Heroes, a huge monument on the outskirts of Windhoek. EFE
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