Private media restricted from Nujoma’s mausoleum
• Shelleygan Petersen
PRIVATE media has been restricted from the mausoleum of founding president Sam Nujoma.
Members of the Namibian Defence Force on Saturday asked private media professionals to leave the area surrounding the mausoleum.
Out of 650 accredited media professionals, only 14 were allowed to capture content at the burial site.
Executive director of information and communication technology Audrin Mathe on Saturday posted on X that 650 journalists and photojournalists were accredited to cover Nujoma’s burial.
May no language separate Namibians – Kameeta
• Shelleygan Petersen
FORMER minister and bishop Zephania Kameeta has called on Namibians to not allow any language or culture to separate them.
Kameeta was delivering the prayer and scripture reading at the funeral of founding president Sam Nujoma on Saturday morning.
“This is not what comrade Nujoma fought for,” he said.
The former minister said he witnessed how mourners from all walks of life united in grief for Nujoma.
He spoke out against social ills such as gender-based violence, robbery and corruption.
Mbeki, Grace Mugabe and other dignitaries arrive for Nujoma’s burial at Heroes’ Acre
By John-Colin Namene
SCORES of dignatries from Namibia and abroad arrived for the state funeral of founding president Sam Nujoma in Windhoek on Saturday.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki arrived early to pay Nujoma his last respects.
In a recent interview, he said Nujoma was not only a leader for Namibia but the entire continent.
“He was not only a Swapo leader, but also our leader. He is the last of his generation,” Mbeki told SABC News.
Former first lady Grace Mugabe was also in attendance alongside Michael Bizwick Usi, the vice president of Malawi.
Various Namibian politicians, including deputy prime minister John Mutorwa, former prime minister Nahas Angula and the leader of the official opposition, McHenry Venaani, also gathered.
Proceedings were expected to commence after the arrival of chief mourner president Nangolo Mbumba.
Photo: Mitchelin Kangootui
February is a month of loss for Namibia – Mbumba
President and chief mourner Nangolo Mbumba has described February as a mourning month in Namibia’s history.
“For the second consecutive year, the month of February has become known to many of us [as a month] of mourning due to the loss of last year’s Hage [Geingob] and this year’s Nujoma,” he said.
Mbumba was speaking during the memorial service of founding president Sam Nujoma in Windhoek on Friday.
“He held the Namibian flag high since the 1950s to seek freedom for Namibia. He was a leader and a fighter. He used to reshuffle them and never fired them.
“This was because Nujoma knew when to fight and when to discuss issues for amicable solutions. There will only be one founding father and that is Sam Nujoma,” he said.
Mbumba added that Nujoma was the Swapo party’s first leader, who mobilised ethnic groups from all corners of Namibia.
Thousands gather for Nujoma’s last memorial service
The final memorial service for founding president Sam Nujoma commenced on Friday morning with Namibian Defence Force drumming, signalling the start of the national anthem.
Members of the public were waving Namibia’s blue, yellow, green, white and red flag around all over Independence Stadium.
With all dignitaries, foreign leaders and chief mourner president Nangolo Mbumba seated, the programme kicked off with a devotion and eulogy by former prime minister Nahas Angula.
Tributes to Nujoma by official opposition leader McHenry Venaani, president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, foreign leaders and Mbumba are expected.
Nujoma’s body will be available for viewing overnight until Saturday morning.
Public holiday for public servants to attend memorial service
Prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has granted public servants a day off on Friday, in observance of the state memorial service for Namibia’s founding president, Sam Nujoma.
Cabinet secretary George Simataa announced the decision in a directive issued on Thursday.
“In light of the state memorial service at Independence Stadium for the founding president, the prime minister has authorised Friday, 28 February 2025, as a public holiday for all public servants, excluding those involved in emergency and critical services,” the directive stated.
The public holiday is intended to allow government staff to attend the memorial service and pay their respects. Schools across the country have also been granted the day off to join in the mourning.
Nujoma’s last ride through the streets of Windhoek
By Puyeipawa Nakashole
THOUSANDS of Windhoek residents lined the streets of the capital to witness the procession of founding president Sam Nujoma’s body on Thursday morning.
People stood along Sam Nujoma Drive and several other streets in the city all the way to Katutura, waving Namibian flags and holding portraits of Nujoma.
Some sang liberation songs while others stood by silently.
The procession moved from the Hosea Kutako International Airport, through the city, before stopping at Parliament Gardens.
Among the mourners, Ester Amia recalled a memory she cherishes of Nujoma.
“I will never forget watching a documentary on television when the founding father was asked on what his middle name, Shafiishuna, means and he answered that it meant dangerous, with a big smile on his face,” she said, watching the entourage driving by.
Nujoma will be taken to his final resting place at the Heroes’ Acre on Saturday.
Some leaders from across Africa and the rest of the world are expected to attend.
Nujoma’s casket touches down in Windhoek
President Nangolo Mbumba has received the casket of founding president Sam Nujoma which arrived at the Hosea Kutako International Airport, where Nujoma kissed the ground of an almost free Namibia on 14 September 1989.
Nujoma’s casket is expected to take it’s final journey through the Windhoek on Thursday, ahead of the weekend’s burial.
“I will join,” the president said when Namibian Defence Force chief air marshal Martin Pinehas asked Mbumba to join the procession as per protocol.
Government leaders, family and friends of Nujoma gathered at the airport for the arrival of his casket.
Mbumba, president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Nujoma’s eldest son, Utoni Nujoma, will receive the casket for its final part of the tour around the country over the past week.
The Khomas region is the last destination, where the casket, with a street procession led by 14 Namibian Defence Force motorbikes, will travel through Windhoek.
Street procession route
25 February
Swapo to unveil Nujoma statue
By Martin Endjala
SWAPO is set to unveil founding president Sam Nujoma’s statue of him holding a baby at the party headquarters on Thursday.
Party spokesperson Hilma Nicanor confirmed this on Wednesday.
She said the party will also have a memorial service at the headquarters on Thursday.
“We will be having the unveiling of the founding president’s statue at the Swapo headquarters at 11h00 and a memorial service from 14h00. We are, however, busy putting out an official statement that will outline the details” she said.
The baby in Nujoma’s hands is a survivor of the Cassinga massacre.
The gold-coloured statue was mounted on top of Swapo’s N$730-million headquarters in 2022.
Nujoma had a special attachment to the Namibian child – McLeod-Katjirua
Founding president Sam Nujoma had a special attachment to the plight of the Namibian child and regarded the children as protected assets in charge of Namibia’s future.
This was said by Khomas region governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua at a memorial service held for Nujoma by the City of Windhoek and the Khomas Regional Council on Sunday.
“The founding president at times advocated the elders to fasten their belt and to eat one meal per day and the children must have three meals per day and he always emphasised this,” McLeod-Katjirua said.
She praises Nujoma for steering a victorious liberation war, a powerful independence consolidation process and leaving Namibians as masters of their own destiny.
“We are celebrating the exceptional life of a highly inspired person who regarded Namibia as an unexchangeable gift from God and our forefathers, a person who believed that nothing will come between him and his country Namibia and a person who believed in the power of our culture, tradition, unity and solidarity, and he confidently stated this during the liberation struggle,” McLeod-Katjirua said.
We must draw lessons from Nujoma – Larandja
Windhoek mayor Ndeshihafela Larandja says Namibians should draw lessons from founding president Sam Nujoma.
Larandja was speaking at a memorial service held by the City of Windhoek and the Khomas Regional Council on Sunday.
“We must draw lessons from the life of our departed founding father who had put the interests of the nation above his own. Let us return to the values upon which our nation was founded,” Larandja said.
Larandja said Nujoma believed that society will never be truly free unless the lives of the poor are improved.
“We can only make progress when we are a united nation and not divided by factionalism, tribalism, regionalism and other evils. He has left this mortal world, but his work and his legacy is all around us and will endure forever,” Larandja said.
Rural Khomas residents get free transport to Nujoma’s memorial
DONALD MATTHYS
RESIDENTS from the Dordabis, Stinkwater, Groot Aub, Neudam, Kapps Farm and Mix Settlement in the Windhoek rural constituency will be provided free transport to founding president Sam Nujoma’s memorial on Sunday.
This was announced in a joint statement by the City of Windhoek and the Khomas Regional Council.
Pick-ups will follow the usual routes, starting as follows: Dordabis and Stinkwater at 12h00, Groot Aub at 13h00, Neudam and Kapps Farm at 13h00 and Mix Settlement at 14h00.
“We urge all residents attending the memorial service to be at their pick-up points on time to avoid missing the bus. Please note: Law enforcement will be present to ensure maximum safety, so kindly do not carry any form of weapon with you,” the statement read.
Namibians not only mourning Nujoma, but celebrating his life – Diescho
MATTHEW PALATA
Namibian writer and political analyst Joseph Diescho says the nation should not only mourn founding president Sam Nujoma, but celebrate his life.
A multitude of mourners gathered to pay tribute to Nujoma and celebrate his life at Rundu Sports Stadium in the Kavango East region on Saturday.
Mourners flocked from different communities in the Kavango East and Kavango West regions to pay their last respects to Nujoma.
Speaking at the event, Diescho said he joins multitudes, both in Namibia and beyond the country’s borders, who are not only mourning the passing of Nujoma, but “celebrating his illustrious life”.
Said Diescho: “He walked ahead of the nation that was not yet born, held the torch which meant that there was a future for this country.
“Not only did the torch illuminate the road ahead, it kept hope alive, it gave the future meaning, and it injected in us courage to think about tomorrow.”
There comes a time when people pause, not to cry and lament, and not to mourn, but to celebrate what Nujoma meant for Namibia and the world, he said.
“The words of one of the most celebrated African American writers said, ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel’,” Diescho quoted Maya Angelou.
He added that people would remember how Nujoma made people feel.
Meanwhile, Mbunza Traditional Authority Hompa Alfeus Kaundu said Nujoma valued tradional leaders.
“Nujoma, whenever he comes to Kavango, he visits us, inquires about community well-being and many other essential services,” Kaundu said.
Kaundu said during Nujoma’s leadership, he always invited all the hompas for independence celebrations, which he said has not happened over the last 10 years.
Zambezi residents urged to show up in numbers to Nujoma memorial
LUGERETZIA KOOPER
ZAMBEZI governor Lawrence Sampofu has urged residents to show up in numbers at founding president Sam Nujoma’s memorial service at Katima Mulilo on Sunday.
The service is expected to be held at the Katima Mulilo Sports Complex.
Sampofu says Nujoma did so much for Namibia and deserves a fitting send-off.
“Founding president Sam Nujoma has liberated the country and also united its citizens, who have been divided by colonialism.
“Therefore, he deserves a well-attended memorial service that will honour his sacrifices,” he says.
Sampofu says Nujoma’s body will arrive at Katima Mulilo Airport at 11h30, and will be received by minister of urban and rural development Erastus Uutoni.
Uutoni has been assigned by president Nangolo Mbumba as the region’s representative.
Sampofu says the procession will kick off from the airport, travel to town on the Trans-Zambezi highway, turning into the Sam Nujoma Road, and then enter Ngoma and Hospital roads.
The procession will then turn into Dr Hage Geingob Street and travel to the sport complex for the memorial service at 14h00.
Sampofu says those who can afford to bring people from the villages to the service at their own expense should do so.
“We would also like to appeal to bar owners to remain closed for the whole of Sunday until Monday morning.
“Residents attending the memorial service should also ensure they are not armed with any dangerous weapons.
“The man we are bidding farewell was a unifier and a peace maker.
“Therefore we would like the memorial service to be peaceful,” he says.
Family thanks nation for support following Nujoma’s death
Anna Shinana
THE eldest son of late founding president Sam Nujoma, Utoni Nujoma, has expressed gratitude for the support Namibians have shown during what he describes as a difficult time following his father’s death.
Sam Nujoma died on 8 February in Windhoek, after a decline in health.
Utoni Nujoma shared that his father had been battling health issues over the past year, with his condition worsening in the last six months.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Namibia for recognising my father. [He] inspired all who encountered him to live with joy and happiness. His journey is a testament to the power of human resilience and the wisdom that comes with age.
“We are not only mourning our father’s passing but also celebrating his legacy. We extend our appreciation to all who hold him dearly,” Utoni Nujoma said during his father’s memorial service at Eenhana on Friday.
Nujoma was ours – Eenhana residents at memorial
ANNA SHINANA
A CROWD of people gathered at Eenhana Sport Field in the Ohangwena region for founding president Sam Nujoma’s regional memorial service on Friday.
Thomas Mathews (64) said he travelled from Tsumeb in the Oshikoto region two days ago to attend various memorial services.
“I came from Tsumeb and attended the memorial service at Etunda in the Omusati region yesterday. Today, I am here in the Ohangwena region at Eenhana for the service. I will go wherever the memorial services take place to honour my late president,” he said.
Another mourner, Ndiwakalunga Ndeshihafela (65), said: “Sam Nujoma was ours. He paved the way for our independence and liberated our country. We are sitting here free, working because of his great contributions to the independence of this nation.
“We love Nujoma, and may his soul rest in peace.”
Alcohol ban at Grootfontein for Nujoma memorial
THE sale of alcohol and the operation of outlets selling alcohol at Grootfontein will be probibited during founding president Sam Nujoma’s memorial service at the town on Monday.
Otjozondjupa governor James Uerikua on Thursday said the ban is backed up by a council resolution which the Grootfontein municipality passed on Wednesday.
The memorial service will start at Grootfontein’s Omulunga Sport Stadium at 14h00 on 24 February.
“All alcohol outlets should close on Monday, 24 February, until 25 February at 10h00, when the body of founding president Nujoma has departed Grootfontein,” Uerikua said.
This is to ensure all mourners are sober and to give Nujoma a befitting and dignified memorial service, he said.
Uerikua said all preparations for the memorial service are nearing completion, with approximately 5 000 mourners from the Omaheke, Oshikoto and Kunene regions expected to attend.
Nujoma will be buried at Heroes’ Acre on 1 March. – Nampa
Elcin bishop Dumeni reveals how he reunited Nujoma with his mother after 26 years apart
Retired Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (Elcin) bishop Kleopas Dumeni says he had arranged for founding president Sam Nujoma to meet his late mother, Helvi, after they had been separated for 26 years.
Dumeni (94) says in doing so, he pretended to send Helvi to Finland for medical treatment.
“I wanted her to meet her son, because they had not seen each other for 26 years at the time. When he left the country, Sam was young,” he told The Namibian at Etunda, Nujoma’s home village, on Thursday.
Dumeni said Nujoma’s mother had been assaulted by apartheid forces at Etunda while they were looking for Nujoma.
“I sent her with a nurse, Nuusita Amakutuwa, who is now married to Utoni Nujoma,” the bishop said.
He said he and Nujoma met many times in New York, Finland, and Geneva before Namibia gained independence.
Dumeni said Nujoma’s mother would send messages through him.
Nujoma fled Namibia in February 1960 via Botswana and returned to Namibia in September 1989.
He died in Windhoek on 8 February.
A memorial in his honour will be held at the Nujoma family house at Etunda on Thursday afternoon.
Cassinga survivors await Nujoma remains at Ondangwa
A number of Cassinga survivors were present at the Andimba Toivo ya Toivo airport in Ondangwa Thursday morning to await the arrival of the remains of founding president Sam Nujoma.
The first of seven regional memorial services for Nujoma will take place at Etunda village in the Okahao Constituency, some 100 kilometres from Ondangwa, on Thursday.
Nujoma was born at Etunda on 12 May 1929.
The 77-year-old Darius ‘Mbolondondo’ Shikongo, who was a People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) combatant and commander of the Cassinga camp, said he is hurt by the death of Nujoma.
“We are deeply hurt by this loss. I do not think we will ever have someone of his calibre again,” he said.
Shikongo said he is happy about the fact that the public have the opportunity to honour Nujoma’s legacy at the memorial services taking place countrywide from Thursday until next week.
Shikongo said he used to have a good relationship with Nujoma during the liberation struggle.
“He would invite me to Luanda in Angola for meetings,” he said.
Shikongo noted that although they lost contact, it was a source of pride for him to witness the “tremendous” work Nujoma did for the people of Namibia.
Founding President Sam Nujoma died in Windhoek on 08 February 2025. NAMPA
Nujoma’s body departs for memorial tour
PUYEIPAWA NAKASHOLE
THE body of the late founding president, Sam Nujoma, has departed from Windhoek for the regional memorial services.
Nujoma’s body was flown from the Hosea Kutako International Airport to Ondangwa on Thursday morning.
The founding president’s remains were escorted by chief mourner president Nangolo Mbumba, former president Hifikepunye Pohamba, Nujoma’s family and other officials.
At Nujoma’s residence, former prime minister Nahas Angula announced to Nujoma’s wife, Kovambo Nujoma, that her husband’s casket had arrived.
The founding first lady was waiting for the casket in the sitting room.
“Meekulu, we have brought your husband home,” Angula said.
Family and friends, dressed in black, could be heard crying as the casket was ushered into the house.
Following the arrival in Ondangwa, Nujoma’s body will be transported to seven regions: Omusati, Oshana, Erongo, Kavango East, Zambezi, Otjozondjupa and //Kharas.
After returning to Windhoek, a final procession of Nujoma’s body in the capital is planned on 27 February. The final memorial service will be held on 28 February and the funeral will take place on 1 March.
Sam Nujoma – A Chronology
- • 1929 Born at Etunda in the Omusati region
- • 1939 Starts formal schooling at age of ten
- • 1945 Completes Standard Six at Okahao Finnish Mission School
- • 1946 Moves to live with an aunt in Walvis Bay
- • 1949 Moves to Windhoek and works for South African Railways
- • 1956 Marries Kovambo Katjimune
- • 1959 Chosen as the President of the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO)
- • 1959 Joins the executive committee of the South West Africa National Union (Swanu)
- • 1960 Leaves Namibia in wake of the Old Location shootings
- • 1960 Arrives in Tanganyika on March 21
- • 1960 Visits Ghana and meets with President Kwame Nkrumah
- • 1960 Chosen as founding President of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo)
- • 1960 Arrives in New York to petition the UN for Namibian independence
- • 1961 Returns to Tanzania and sets up Swapo headquarters there
- • 1966 Returns to Windhoek to challenge South African claim that he was in ‘self-exile’. Deported 16 hours later
- • 1969 Re-affirmed as Swapo President at Tanga Consultative Conference
- • 1971 Becomes the first African liberation movement leader to address the UN Security Council
- • 1973 Awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union Late 1970s – Leads Namibian delegation which negotiates UN Security Council Resolution 435, the framework for Namibian independence
- • 1988 Signs ceasefire which ends liberation war
- • 1989 Returns to Namibia and is given a hero’s welcome
- • 1990 Constituent Assembly selects him as country’s president
- • 1990 Sworn in as Namibia’s first President on March 21
- • 1990 Receives the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize from India
- • 1993 Appointed Chancellor of the University of Namibia (Unam)
- • 1994 Wins 74% support in presidential poll
- • 1995 Receives Grand Master of the Order of Welwitschia from Namibia
- • 1995 Receives Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger
- • 1998 Orders Namibian troops to fight on behalf of President Laurent Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
- • 1999 Constitution changed to allow him to run for third term in office
- • 1999 Wins 77% support in presidential poll
- • 2001 His autobiography, ‘Where Others Wavered: My Life in Swapo and My Participation in the Liberation Struggle of Namibia’, is published
- • 2001 Champions the construction of the Tsumeb-Oshikango railway line
- • 2002 Makes widely publicised attack on British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a UN summit in South Africa
- • 2004 Confirms he will retire as head of state in 2005; supports Hifikepunye Pohamba as his successor
- • 2005 Given the official title ‘Founding Father of the Namibian Nation’ by parliament
- • 2005 Commences studies for a masters degree in Geology at Unam
- • 2007 Retires as President of Swapo
- • 2007 Given the title ‘Leader of the Namibian Revolution’ by Swapo
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