Sam Nujoma battled South Africa and led a freed Namibia

Samuel Shafiishuna Nujoma was a freedom fighter who stood up to South Africa in the struggle to liberate Namibia. As the leader of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), Nujoma united Namibians and drew international attention to the fight against South African occupation and apartheid rule, which saw strict racial classifications and reduced the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Nujoma's determination, hard work and love for Namibia paid off when the country became independent in March 1990. He became president and served for 15 years.

He died in Namibia's capital, Windhoek, on Saturday at the age of 95.

An eager scholar

Nujoma was born on May 12, 1929, in Etunda, northern Namibia. His mother was an Uukwambi princess by descent. Being the eldest of 11 children, Nujoma looked after his siblings and tended to the family's cattle.

His opportunities for education were limited, but he attended a Finnish missionary school and completed Standard Six, as high as was possible for Black people in the country at the time. At 17, he moved to Walvis Bay, where he worked at a general store. Here, Nujoma was exposed to world politics by meeting soldiers from different countries who had come during World War II.

Nujoma later moved to Windhoek, where he worked for the South African Railways and attended night school, mainly to improve his English.

The freedom fighter

Nujoma's philosophy was simple: freedom and nationalism, although some argued that he had a Marxist approach. His politics were shaped by inequality under apartheid, the contract labor system and his increasing knowledge of the liberation campaigns across Africa.

In the late 1950s, Nujoma helped found the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO), the forerunner to the SWAPO. During the next year, he traveled Namibia in secret, mobilizing and setting up OPO branch structures, before being forced into exile after rallying resistance protests in Old Location a Black neighborhood in segregated Windhoek from which residents were forcibly removed.

After several years of fruitlessly petitioning the United Nations to compel South Africa to release control of South West Africa, SWAPO embarked on an armed struggle in 1966. Although its guerrilla force, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), failed to liberate any territory, it succeeded in focusing international attention on Namibia.

In 1973, the UN General Assembly recognized SWAPO as the sole legitimate representative of the Namibian people. After nearly 30 years of trying to free Namibia from South African forces, Namibians gained independence in 1990 and Nujoma returned from exile to take the presidency.

Nujoma led Namibia to a functioning stable democracy after centuries of colonialism, dispossession and racist rule. Among his earliest achievement was the policy of "national reconciliation," which aimed to improve and harmonize relations among Namibia's various ethnic groups.

Before Nujoma stepped down as president, the SWAPO-controlled Parliament agreed to amend the constitution, allowing him to run for a third term. This drew international and domestic criticism, though Nujoma easily won reelection in 1999.

Nujoma later announced that he would not run for a fourth term, and stepped down in 2005, allowing for a peaceful transfer of power to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba. Nujoma also stepped down as SWAPO leader in 2007.

Persecution of LGBTQ+ people

In 2007, Namibian human rights activists filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Nujoma and three other leading members of the former rebel army and SWAPO for crimes committed during the war of independence.

The activists said the SWAPO had tortured and killed up to 6,000 alleged regime collaborators. Pohamba said at a rally that "anyone who denigrates our heroes should leave the country." Nujoma remained silent on the accusations and did not face criminal charges.

He was also accused of discrimination when he said the British should be "hit with a hammer in the head" and offended many people during his presidency when he said "the police must arrest, imprison, and deport homosexuals and lesbians found in Namibia."

Although Nujoma stepped down from all formal roles in 2007, he remained active in the country's political sphere, regularly campaigning for SWAPO at various rallies and functions across the country. In 2009, he received a master's degree in geology from the University of Namibia.

Edited by: Robert Mudge