FARWELL TO PRESIDENT SAMUEL SHAFISHUNA DANIEL NUJOMA:
A LIFE OF HONOUR, PURPOSE AND SERVICE
by High Commissioner Karen-Mae Hill
On Friday 28th February 2025, it was my immense honour to meet, albeit posthumously, another of Africa’s leaders whose influence, legacy and sacrifice disAnguished him as iconic. Last week, I met Samuel Shafishuna Daniel Nujoma, the Founding Father of Namibia. Coincidentally it was also in February 2003, that I first met Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu at the Centenary CelebraAons of the Rhodes Scholarships in Cape Town, South Africa, which incidentally also signaled the launch of the Mandela-Rhodes FoundaAon linking the name of the imperialist to the great liberator.
President Nujoma was a man born to peasant parents with only a primary school level educaAon yet whose life meant and means so much to Namibia, to Africa and to the African Diaspora. His death, on 8th February at age 95, signaled the end of an era as he was the last remaining giant of that legendary generaAon of African leaders who fought against and dismantled colonial minority rule and with great determinaAon and singleness of purpose, led their people to independence. He was the last of Africa’s freedom fighters who included Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Samora Machel of Mozambique, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissau, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. He was our Sir Vere Cornwall Bird.
There were several moments that stood out in the various tributes that populated this moving service of remembrance and celebraAon. I summarise these as his work in Namibia, his work in Southern Africa and across Africa and his global impact.
For Namibians, President Nujoma was their Father. Nambia was ruled by Germany for 31 years unAl 1915 a]er which the apartheid Government of South Africa extended its rule to the country, brutally denying Namibians any dignity, voice or place in their own land. Under this system of segregated rule, educaAon, healthcare and governance were determined by race with the majority black populaAon being denied basic access to these rights.
It was this second-class treatment of his brothers and sisters which ignited a flame in Nujoma to resist the oppression of his people and to dedicate his life to Namibia’s independence. In exile for nearly 30 years, away from his family and the comforts of home, he valiantly embraced guerilla tacAcs in a country whose vast and sparse terrain made this type of offensive challenging. In addiAon, with the help of supporters around the world, he journeyed to the United NaAons to peAAon for the independence of his country.
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In 1973, the United NaAons General Assembly recognized SWAPO, the South West Africa People’s OrganizaAon, founded by Nujoma in 1966 and of which he was President, as the ‘sole and authenAc’ representaAve of the people of Namibia. In 1978, through his advocacy, UN Security Council ResoluAon 435 was adopted, sefng out the terms for Namibia’s independence. In 1990, he was elected the first President of an independent Namibia.
To the people in Namibia during those dark years, President Nujoma was their hope as they witnessed the large tanks of the colonial masters driving through their streets daily. He was their hope as they struggled under a regime that treated them as inferior. During the service on Friday, Namibians spontaneously burst into song, echoing the words o]en sung by their people throughout the struggle: “Sam Ouli Peni?” meaning “Sam, Where are you?”.
President Nujoma’s sacrifice laid the foundaAon for the Namibia of today where all people, male, female, black and white, live as equals. As a fierce champion of women’s rights, it is fifng that Namibia’s first female President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, will take office on 21st March 2025 the same day the country will celebrate its 35th anniversary of Independence.
In his words, “Namibia is our God-gi]ed country; we have no other one but Namibia, and we have to be there. Those who are trying to stand in our way to freedom; it’s obvious we will smash them to pieces. Whether Botha/Reagan want it or not, Namibia shall be free. We will seize it from the hands of the Boers.”
The second aspect of the service of thanksgiving and celebraAon that captured my mind was the impact President Nujoma had on southern Africa and indeed, the conAnent of Africa. He lived in Zambia and Tanzania and from there planned and executed much of the resistance. The post-Apartheid South African Government awarded him South Africa’s Order of the Companions of O.R. Tambo in Gold, for his unwavering fight against the apartheid regime which included leading Namibian forces to fight alongside South African liberaAon fighters.
The understanding of the need for support from his brothers and sisters across Africa and also for him to lend support to these brothers and sisters in their struggle epitomised the depth of his maturity and understanding as a leader. In his words: “When the Founding Fathers were calling for African unity, they were calling for economic emancipaAon, cooperaAon and integraAon of the enAre African conAnent because they fully understood that poliAcal freedom would remain insufficient and meaningless unless it was accompanied by genuine economic independence.”
The impact of President Nujoma’s life and work extended to the Caribbean. The Cuban Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Her Excellency Ismaa Vargas Walter, spoke of the support President Nujoma showed for the Cuban RevoluAon, an interest and support that remained throughout his life, receiving the José Marp Order, the highest recogniAon granted by the Cuban State.
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It is important that all persons of the African Diaspora mark the life of President Nujoma with reflecAon and with purpose. Our reflecAons may centre on his commitment to advancing the freedom and prosperity of his people and country at great personal sacrifice. Our understanding of purpose may centre on his acAons a]er achieving that independence and right to self determinaAon he so valiantly wanted for his people. His approach was to champion the rights of women and children, to build bridges across Africa and the world and to embrace a principle of reconciliaAon within his own country bringing together all Namibians including white businessmen and poliAcians in a non-racial, non-sexist democracy.
I end these observaAons with the words of the anthem of the African Union which were sung at the beginning and end of the service. These words are also a call to acAon we here in AnAgua and Barbuda and I daresay across the Caribbean can embrace. I think that the quesAon we must ask ourselves as we reflect on a life well lived and indelibly etched in history as among the great leaders of all Ames is: are we honouring the legacy of our forefathers and mothers in our stewardship of their legacy to us achieved with blood, sweat and sacrifice? This ability to honour must begin with knowing our history, teaching it to our children and ensuring that its lessons are never forgoqen and understood by our acAons. In the words of the anthem:
Let us all unite and celebrate together
The victories won for our liberaAon.
Let us dedicate ourselves to rise together
To defend our liberty and unity.
O Sons and Daughters of Africa
Flesh of the Sun and Flesh of the Sky
Let us make Africa the Tree of life.
Let us all unite and sing together
To uphold the bonds that frame our desAny.
Let us dedicate ourselves to fight together
For lasAng peace and jusAce on the earth.
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