NAMIBIA'S PRESIDENT GEINGOB DIES AGED 82
WINDHOEK - Namibia's President Hage Geingob has died at the age of 82 while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in the capital, Windhoek.
A veteran of the country's independence struggle, Geingob had been diagnosed with cancer and revealed the details to the public last month.
He died early yesterday with his wife and children by his side, Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba announced.
Namibia "has lost... a distinguished servant of the people," he said.
According to the constitution, Mbumba will now act as president as there was less than a year left of Geingob's second term in office. Presidential and parliamentary elections had already been scheduled for November.
The exact cause of the president's death was not given but last month he underwent "a two-day novel treatment for cancerous cells" in the US before flying back home on January 31, his office had said.
Leaders from around the world have been sending condolence messages.
Among them is Cyril Ramaphosa, president of neighbouring South Africa, who described him as "a towering veteran of Namibia's liberation from colonialism and apartheid."
Geinbob, a tall man with a deep, gravelly voice and a commanding presence was a long-serving member of the Swapo party.
Born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941, Geingob was the country's first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the country's population.
He took up activism against South Africa's apartheid regime, which at the time ruled over Namibia, from his early schooling years before being driven into exile.
Geinbob lived in exile for 27 years, spending time in Botswana, the US and the UK, where he studied for a PhD in politics.
He came back to Namibia in 1989, a year before the country gained independence.
Namibia is to hold presidential and national assembly elections towards the end of the year.