Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Desk Editor
THE late Namibia founding President Dr Sam Nujoma has been described as a towering figure in African liberation history.
On the 8th of February, Namibia lost its founding President Dr Sam Nujoma, a revolutionary icon whose legacy of a free and empowered African lives on.
A memorial service held in Harare this Wednesday saw speaker after speaker saluting the African icon.
“It is with deep sadness that we learnt of the passing of Dr Sam Nujoma, who was the only remaining founding father in SADC and the architect of independence. On behalf of the SADC Ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe, we express our most profound heartfelt condolences to the people of Namibia and Africa,” SADC Heads of Missions Chairperson His Excellency Agostino Da Silva Neto said.
ZANU PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa said, “We salute President Nujoma who worked with the first and second generation of African revolutionaries and we shall forever remember what he taught us.”
Namibian Ambassador to Zimbabwe His Excellency Nicklaas Kandjii said SADC has been robbed by the demise of Dr Nujoma.
“The founding President Dr Nujoma’s legacy stretches from the slopes and savannas of SADC and we have been robbed of an icon whose legacy will live on,” he said.
For Zimbabwe, Dr Nujoma is remembered for standing by the country at the height of the Land Reform Programme and the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the United States and its Western allies.
“At the height of Zimbabwe’s isolation following the country’s successful Land Reform Programme, our Father, Dr Nujoma, boldly stood out in support of our programme, with much ideological clarity. While we had achieved our goal of independence, he remained alive to neo-colonial influences and aggression which stood in the way for Africa’s redemption from servitude. Such was the larger-than-life character of Comrade Nujoma, an Elder Statesman and Diplomat, whose leadership remained crucial in shaping the global agenda of developing countries and canvassing support for Zimbabwe beyond. SADC and the African Union (AU), to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and other bodies,” the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Honourable Sheillah Chikomo said.
A state funeral for Dr Nujoma will be held in Windhoek this Saturday.
