Day: February 12, 2024

WINDHOEK: Former Hardap Governor, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, has described the late President Hage Geingob as generous and compassionate.

Her fondest memories with him, she said, include him droving to her house in Katutura to wish her strength after she was convicted of corruption.

‘After landing from an African Union (AU) meeting after I was convicted. How he drove to my house in Katutura to wish me strength, that I will never forget in my life. Which President will do that ever? He was true and sincere to himself and those whom he regarded as friends,’ Hanse-Himarwa told Nampa on sunday.

She was the Minister of Education, Arts and Culture from March 2015 to July 2019. Hanse-Himarwa was sentenced to pay a fine of N.dollars 50 000 or serve a direct prison sentence of 24 months after being found guilty in 2019 of wrongly and corruptly using her position as the Governor of the Hardap Region to make changes to the original list of mass housing beneficiaries for the benefit of two of her relatives in December 201
4.

Hanse-Himarwa added that Geingob shaped her career in many ways.

‘Every moment in his presence was a lifelong lesson. You wouldn’t be in Hage’s presence and leave without learning something. He was magnanimous. He was a man in a lion’s face with a lamb’s heart, generous in all his dealings, compassionate, inclusive and detribalised,’ Hanse-Himarwa added.

She further stressed that she has worked with Geingob as a local authority councilor and from her trade union days as a Namibia National Teachers Union (NANTU) member.

‘He wholly believed in women and youth empowerment. This is so clear in how he appointed youth and women since his presidency. He made deliberate efforts to promote women and youth at all levels,’ Hanse-Himarwa added.

Geingob died on 04 February in a Windhoek hospital.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The late Dr Hage Geingob was a liberation hero, a symbol of unity, a skilled diplomat, negotiator, and administrator, as well as a Statesman who made a significant contribution to both the Swapo Party and the country of Namibia.

This is how members and supporters of the ruling Swapo Party remembered their former party president and Namibian Head of State on Sunday night at a candlelight vigil held at the party’s headquarters here.

Geingob, 82, died in office from cancer complications on 04 February in Windhoek, and he will be buried on 25 February 2024.

Senior party leaders, including Swapo Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa, and Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, paid luminous tributes during the candlelight vigil.

‘I have known Hage for 49 years and five months. And since we met for the first time in 1974, when three girls fresh from home were accommodated at his flat in Harlem, New York, our operational areas have been very close. And that is why
this is the one difficult moment for me to talk about, on this occasion when we are saying, ‘Comrade Hage is no more’,’ Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

She noted that Geingob joined Swapo during the formative years of the former liberation movement. ‘And throughout his entire life, he had committed himself to Swapo and the liberation of our country,’ she said, adding that Geingob never failed the party or the government in the different roles he served.

‘Every task that was given to him, he accomplished with great success. And this is the man we remember,’ Nandi-Ndaitwah said. She added that Geingob did not hesitate when he was tasked with leading a team to set up the Swapo machinery in preparation for the 1989 UN-supervised elections.

Nandi-Ndaitwah also remembered the role Geingob played in the establishment of the UN Council for Namibia in 1967.

She said that many Namibians in exile could not travel to many countries due to a lack of travel documents. And it was through the initiative of people like Geingob that
things changed when the UN Council for Namibia was established.

‘They were allowed to issue UN Council for Namibia passports that had facilitated the travel of Namibians. Before that, Namibians could travel only between Lusaka, Luanda, and Dar es Salaam, the only countries that allowed Namibians to travel on Swapo membership cards,’ she recalled.

Nandi-Ndaitwah worked closely with Geingob during his time as the director of the United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) in Lusaka, Zambia. During that time, she was the Swapo representative for Namibia in central Africa, based in Lusaka. ‘Therefore, in that capacity, I also oversaw the activities of UNIN as far as Swapo was concerned. And I must tell you, I really enjoyed working with comrade Hage at that time,’ she said.

Geingob was elected Swapo’s third president in November 2017. He was re-elected to the same position in 2022 and was expected to lead the party through this year’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

During his time of death, the
former president was serving his last five-year term in office, after first being elected Head of State in 2014.

‘I want to tell you that, and I am saying this with confidence, that as much as comrade Hage loved Swapo and the Namibian nation, his party Swapo equally loved him,’ Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

On her part, Prime Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila expressed that Namibia has lost ‘a visionary and revolutionary leader who dedicated his life to serving others.’

She said that Geingob’s tireless effort with other cadres at the UN resulted in the recognition of Swapo as the sole representative of the people of Namibia.

And Geingob ‘helped develop a pool of cadres that became critical in establishing our new independent republic. Many of those who took up leadership positions at different levels and different branches of Government and outside the public sector went through his hands as director of the United Nations Institute for Namibia,’ she said.

Also as the first prime minister of Namibia, Kuugongelwa-Amadh
ila said Geingob oversaw the establishment of the Namibian public service and ensured smooth integration under the policy of national reconciliation.

Shaningwa, Swapo’s SG said the news of Geingob’s passing hit the Swapo family very hard. ‘It hit us; it shocked us unexpectedly. Dr Hage Geingob I cannot believe he is not here. I would really like to give enough words of wisdom at this very dark hour in our party and our country,’ Shaningwa said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Various young female political leaders have hailed the late President Hage Geingob as a progressive man who understood affirmative action in the context of women and intergenerational nation-building through youth empowerment.

Sharonice Busch, the Executive Chairperson of the National Youth Council of Namibia, in an interview with Nampa said that Geingob has demonstrated his commitment to uplifting women and youth, from the grassroots to the highest levels of governance.

‘This is evidenced by his appointment of young women and men into various capacities of leadership. President Geingob will be remembered, among many others things, for dramatically shifting the Overton’s Window, insofar as youth leadership and youth inclusion in governance is concerned. He was not afraid to stand behind young people. He was not afraid to let young people take the lead,’ Busch said.

Presidential Youth Advisor, Daisry Obal, who was appointed by Geingob at the age of 28, in remembering Geingob told Nampa that he was
fair in matters of dispute and he was brave in matters of conflict resolution.

‘Although I was consistently among the youngest members of his team around the table, President Geingob engaged and valued us as equals, affirming our individual competencies. He was a hard taskmaster, hardest worker in the room and so he led from the front, hands on and often burnt the midnight oil with his team to get the job done,’ Obal said.

According to her, Geingob cared about the overall wellbeing of his team.

‘Understanding the political nature of the office, he checked in on us often, and on many occasions I have witnessed him attempt to shield us from some of the more politically motivated offensives,’ she added.

She further added that it is through Geingob’s leadership that Namibia achieved a 47 per cent female representation in parliament, making it second in the continent, 37 percent female cabinet ministers in the executive and 85 per cent female deputy ministers.

‘As one of his speechwriters, I would often read
back his lengthy speeches to him, in final edit preparation. On one such occasion, during a SONA preparation and under immense pressure, my voice started to crack as we read through. He took notice, poured me a glass of water, stood up from his chair and served me a drink of water, with a gentle smile on his face, he refreshed me. I’ll never forget his kindness and care,’ Obal said.

The first female president of the Namibia National Students Organization (Nanso), Ester Simon, who at the age of 24 was appointed as the youngest advisor on Geingob’s Advisory Panel, the High-Level Panel on the Namibian Economy. She described his leadership style as inclusive and consultative.

‘His mentorship and guidance were invaluable and I am deeply grateful for the opportunities he afforded me to contribute to meaningful initiatives that have had a lasting impact on our nation,’ Simon told Nampa.

Geingob died on 04 February at a Windhoek hospital.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Vice President of Angola, Esperança Maria Eduardo Francisco da Costa on Monday led a delegation of the ruling party, People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) to convey their condolences to former First Lady Monica Geingos at the couple’s residence, Casa Rosalia.

The neighbouring vice leader’s visit marks the fourth of African leaders to visit Geingos, following the death of her husband, President Hage Geingob on 04 February 2024.

Francisco da Costa equally paid a courtesy visit to President Nangolo Mbumba where she confirmed that President Joao Lourenco will lead a high-level delegation to the official memorial and funeral services of the late President Geingob.

Geingob died at the age of 82 at a Windhoek hospital and his memorial service is scheduled for 24 February, to be followed by his burial on 25 February 2024.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Please kill, repeat kill, our story of Monday, 12 February with the headline ‘Angola’s vice president commiserates with Geingos’.

Former First Lady Monica Geingos was visited by MPLA vice president Luisa Damiao, and not the vice president of the country as stated.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency