Namibia’s founding father Sam Nujoma was “the giant among leaders” and left behind “the most precious gift of freedom,” said the country’s president, Nangolo Mbumba.
He spoke before a large crowd of heroes, and before Nujoma was placed in the mausoleum, the country’s most respected citizens were buried.
The leader of the Namibian independence struggle and segregation South Africa died last month at the age of 95.
Nujoma is seen as the last of the African figures who led the anti-colonial movement and fought for freedom.
“So his departure marks the end of an era, a founding father of Africa,” President Mbuba said in an early speech at a national memorial service on Friday.
“We are not only mourning today, but also celebrating an extraordinary leader who has made a great contribution to our independence and they will continue to inspire us,” Namibian gave Shiyukifein to the Reuters news agency.
On Saturday, the New York horse’s coffin was draped on the Namibian flag and was driven by a military gun cart from the center of the corpse in the capital Windhoek, which lies in the state and arrives at the cemetery in the suburbs of the city.
According to Independent Namibia, the mourners arrived in the early hours of the morning.
It added that they waved flags and sang in memory, including Sam Ouli Peni? (Sam, where are you?) – A popular national anthem after independence in 1990.
Sam Nujoma turned to Namibia independence and led the country until 2005 [AFP]
Among the VIPs present were the presidents of neighboring Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Nujoma is one of 10 children from a peasant family who worked on the railway while receiving a political education in the late 1940s. He developed a passion for politics and longed to see his people free from the injustice and insults of colonialism.
He led a long struggle for freedom from South Africa, which was ruled by a white minority and helped discover the liberation movement known as the Southwest African People’s Organization (SWAPO) in the 1960s.
As the first president of the country – he held a position for 15 years until 2005 – Nujoma was widely praised for ensuring peace and stability. His national reconciliation policy encourages white communities in the country to stay, who still play a major role in agriculture and other economic fields.
He also advocates for the rights of women and children, including making fathers pay for children born at weddings.
Namibia (then known as Southwestern Africa) was occupied by Germany from 1884 to 1915 in Germany.
It then belongs to the white rule of South Africa, which extends its racist laws to the country, denies any political rights of black Namibians and limits social and economic freedom.
The introduction of apartheid legislation led to the 1966 Guerrilla War of Independence.
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