Hage Geingob, the president of Namibia, passed away at a Windhoek hospital while undergoing medical care.
Early on Sunday morning, Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba declared that Mr. Geingob had passed away.
According to a statement released by Mr. Mbumba, “At his side were his dear wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children.”
The 82-year-old leader was told to the public last month that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
His office declared that he would be returning to Namibia on February 2nd after receiving treatment in the United States. In 2015, Mr. Geingob was sworn in for his second and last term as president.
He stated in 2014 that he had survived prostate cancer, that he had undergone an aortic surgery the previous year.
November is when Namibia is scheduled to hold its parliamentary and presidential elections.
The Swapo party, in power since 1990 after gaining independence, has selected Mrs. Nandi-Ndaitwah as their presidential candidate. In addition to serving as Namibia’s deputy prime minister, if she is elected, she will be the nation’s first female president.
Geingob, who was born in 1941, rose to prominence as a politician even before Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990, which was dominated by a white minority.
On March 21, the year of Namibia’s independence, he assumed the role of prime minister, a role he held until 2002, after serving as the head of the committee that produced the country’s constitution.
When Namibia was still known as South West Africa, Geingob joined the governing South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as an agitator for independence. In 2007, he was elected vice president of the organization.
Before taking office as prime minister once more in 2012, Geingob was minister of commerce and industry.
With 87% of the vote in the 2014 election, he just avoided a runoff with slightly over half of the vote in a follow-up survey taken in November 2019.
