Jaishankar visits Namibian High Commission, condoles demise of President Geingob

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday signed the condolence book at the High Commission of Namibia in India and extended condolences on the passing away of Namibian President Hage G Geingob.

In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, “Signed the condolence book at the High Commission of Namibia, extending our deepest condolences on the passing away of President Hage G. Geingob. His untimely demise is a great loss. We will always be thankful for his vision and leadership on the development of our ties.”

On February 4, Namibia President Hage G Geingob passed away at the age of 82 in Namibia’s capital. Namibian Vice President Nangolo Mbumba, now the acting president, announced his death in a televised address, The New York Times reported.

Earlier this February, Geingob had announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

Mbumba said Geingob travelled to the United States to seek treatment in late January before returning to Namibia, in southern Africa, where he died at a hospital in Windhoek, The New York Times reported.

Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, visited the Namibian High Commission in New Delhi on Tuesday to offer condolences on the passing away of the President of Namibia, Hage G Geingob. Condoling the Namibian leader’s demise, the MoS noted that he was a “dear friend” of India.

“Visited Namibian High Commission in New Delhi to express condolences on the sad demise of Dr. Hage G Geingob, President of Namibia. He was a dear friend of India and his contributions towards strengthening India-Namibia relationship will always be remembered,” Muraleedharan posted on X.

Earlier this week, both houses of Parliament of India, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha expressed condolences and observed a moment of silence on the demise of Namibian President, Hage G Geingob.

“Both Houses of Parliament today expressed condolences on the passing away of Dr. Hage G Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia. A dear friend of India, his contribution to a deeper India-Namibia and India-Africa relationship will always be remembered,” said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a post on X on February 5.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said, “Hage G Geingob was a Namibian freedom fighter, politician, and President of the Constituent Assembly and the first Prime Minister of independent Namibia and the third President of the country. He dedicated his entire life to the welfare of his countrymen and the development of his country.”

Emphasising President Geingob’s significant contributions to the enduring friendship between Namibia and India, Speaker Birla recalled his visits to India in 1900 and 2015. Notably, Birla praised Geingob’s commendable role in the project to relocate eight cheetahs from Namibia to India in September 2022.

“President Geingob also had very friendly relations with India, he also visited India in the year 1900 and in the year 2015. President Geingob’s role in the project to relocate eight cheetahs from Namibia to India in September 2022 was also highly commendable,” he added.

Born in 1941, Geingob has been a prominent politician since before Namibia achieved independence from white minority-ruled South Africa in 1990. He chaired the body that drafted Namibia’s constitution, then became its first prime minister at independence on March 21 of that year, a position he retained until 2002.

In 2007, Geingob became Vice President of the governing South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), which he had joined as an agitator for independence when Namibia was still known as South West Africa.

Geingob served as trade and industry minister before becoming prime minister again in 2012. He won the 2014 election with 87 per cent of the vote but only narrowly avoided a runoff with a little more than half the votes in a subsequent poll in November 2019.