Public Holiday To Mourn President - Businesses Closed On Monday

13 Feb 2024

Namibia will observe an extraordinary public holiday on Monday in a fortnight' time. This was announced by the Namibian Ministry of Information at the weekend. According to the announcement, the state funeral for the late President Hage Geingob will take place on Sunday, 25 February. Sunday has been declared a unique public holiday so that Namibians can bid a fitting farewell to their long-serving head of state and government. Public holidays that fall on a Sunday also apply to the following Monday (see Travel Advice of Namibian.org).

Namibia holidaymakers must therefore be prepared for many businesses to remain closed on Monday, 26 February. These include photo, clothing and camping shops as well as arts and crafts shops and centres. Supermarkets, on the other hand, are expected to be open.

Third president dies before the first two

Hage Geingob was the third president of Namibia. Founding president Sam Nujoma ruled the land of endless horizons from independence in 1990 until the end of his (exceptionally granted) third term in 2005. He was followed by Hifikepunje Pohamba, who served two terms. Both are still alive.

Geingob took up the post of Head of State and Government in 2015 and would have left office next year. In November, Namibians will elect a new president and a new parliament.

Hage Geingob died on Sunday, 4 February, after a short battle with cancer at the age of 82. Born in Otjiwarongo in 1941, he first went to school in Otavi and then in Windhoek. He trained as a teacher and taught at a school in Tsumeb in the north of the country.

Hage Geingob former President Namibia
Hage Geingob at the World Investment Forum in October 2018.
Photo: UNCTAD, Wikipedia

 

He went into exile in 1963 in protest against the so-called Bantu education system in what was then South West Africa under the South African mandate. After studying in the USA, Geingob was appointed by the liberation movement SWAPO as its representative at the United Nations and in the Americas.

From 1975, he returned to his teaching profession, only at a higher level and in a managerial capacity. As Director of the UN Institute for Namibia, he and his team were responsible for training Namibians to become civil servants. He also developed a concept for the future form of government of an independent Namibia.

Kissed the ground on landing

The year before independence, on 18 June 1989, the 47-year-old Geingob returned to Namibia. He led SWAPO's campaign for the democratic election to the Constituent Assembly. After SWAPO's overwhelming election victory, he played a leading role in shaping Namibia's constitution as Chairman of the Constituent Comittee.

As Namibia's first Prime Minister, he was in office for twelve years. After a government reshuffle, he went to Washington, where he led the Global Coalition for Africa organisation. However, he returned shortly afterwards, was elected to parliament and became leader of the SWAPO parliamentary group in 2007. His party also elected him Vice President.

In this position, he became SWAPO's presidential candidate at the end of President Pohamba's second term of office. In the 2014 elections, the citizens of Namibia elected him to the highest office of the state with an overwhelming majority (more on Hage Geingob's life in a comprehensice article on Wikipedia).

 

Hage Geingob 2015 Oath of office President of Namibia
Hage Geingob takes the oath at the start of his first term as President of Namibia.
Photo (21 March 2015): Chtrede, Wikipedia.

 

On the day of his death, the previous Vice President Nangolo Mbumba took over - but only temporarily. Last year, SWAPO had already nominated Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its presidential candidate for the elections in November.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday 24 February at the Independence Stadium on the southern edge of Windhoek and the burial will take place on Sunday.

Sven-Eric Stender

Sorry, we can’t seem to find any matches for your search. Have a look at our popular searches below.

Lodges

(12)

Tours

(12)

Nature

(12)