Sam Nujoma

Sam Nujoma
1st President of Namibia
In office 21 March 1990 – 21 March 2005
Prime Minister	Hage Geingob (1990 - 2002) Theo-Ben Gurirab (2002 - 2005)
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Hifikepunye Pohamba
President of SWAPO
In office 19 April 1960 – 29 November 2007
Preceded by	Himself as president of OPO
Succeeded by	Hifikepunye Pohamba
Personal details
Born	(1929-05-12) 12 May 1929 Ongandjera, Southwest Africa (now Namibia)
Political party	South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO)
Other political affiliations	Ovamboland People's Organization
Spouse(s)	Kovambo Theopoldine (m. 1956)
Children	Utoni Nujoma, 1952 John Ndeshipanda Nujoma, 1955 Sakaria Nefungo Nujoma, 1957 Nelago Nujoma, 1959
Alma mater	University of Namibia
Religion	Lutheranism
Website	www.samnujomafoundation.org

Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma (born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian politician who was the first President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005. He led the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in its long struggle against South African rule and took office as President when Namibia obtained independence on 21 March 1990. He was subsequently re-elected in 1994 and 1999, remaining in office until March 2005. He was President of SWAPO from its founding in 1960 until 2007.

Early life

Samuel Daniel Nujoma was born at Etunda, Ongandjera, Ovamboland, Southwest Africa on May 12, 1929. Nujoma was born to Helvi Mpingana Kondombolo (1898-2008) and Daniel Uutoni Nujoma. He is the eldest of his parents eleven children. He spent much of his early childhood looking after his siblings and tending to the family’s cattle and traditional farming activities. Educational opportunities were limited. He started attending a Finnish missionary school at Okahao when he was ten and completed Standard Six. In 1946, at age 17, he went to live in Walvis Bay with his aunt, where he began his first employment at a general store for a monthly salary of 10 Shillings. He would later also work at a whaling station. In 1949, Nujoma moved to Windhoek where he started work as a cleaner for the South African Railways (SAR), while attending adult night school at St. Barnabas in the Windhoek Old Location, mainly with the aim of improving his English. He further studied for his Junior Certificate through correspondence at the Trans‐Africa Correspondence College in South Africa.^[1]

Polical career

Nujoma became involved in politics in the early 50s through trade unions. In 1956, he visited Cape Town, South Africa and met a group of Namibians, including Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, who would go on to form the Ovamboland People's Congress. Nujoma's political outlook was shaped by his work experiences, his awareness of the contract labour system, and his increasing knowledge of the independence campaigns across Africa. In 1957, at age 29, Nujoma resigned from SAR so he could devote more time to politics. On April 19, 1959 he co-founded the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) and he was named president. During the next year Nujoma traveled Namibian in secret to spread the word about OPO. In September 1959, he joined the executive committee of the South West Africa National Union (SWANU), which was at the time an umbrella body for anti-colonial resistance groups, including OPO.

In the wake of the Old Location Massacre in 1959, Nujoma faced threats of deportation to the north of the country as the authorities clamped down on his nationalist movements. In 1960 Nujoma petitioned the United Nations through letters and eventually went into exile in February of that year to lobby for Namibia's independence at the United Nations. He left Namibia on February 29, crossing into Botswana (then Bechuanaland) and from there travelling to Bulawayo (then in Southern Rhodesia) by train. He flew from Bulawayo to Salisbury (now Harare) and on to Ndola (then in Northern Rhodesia). He arrived in Mbeya, Tanzania (which was still the British colony of Tanganyika), on March 21 1960. While in Tanzania he received permission to address the UN Committee on South West Africa in New York. Nujoma arrived in Ghana in April 1960 and met President Kwame Nkrumah, among other African leaders. His early encounters with Nkrumah and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt left a lasting impression and informed his pan-African outlook. From Ghana he traveled to Liberia where the decision was taken to give the OPO a national character by changing its name to the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). Nujoma was confirmed as president of the reconstituted movement. He arrived in New York in June 1960 and stayed for the rest of the year. He petitioned the UN several times, arguing that South West Africa should be given its independence by 1963 at the latest. In early 1961 Nujoma returned to Tanzania, from where he and a small group of activists would develop SWAPO into an international force. He received support from other African nationalists and received strong backing from Julius Nyerere. Nujoma established SWAPO's Provisional HQ in Dar es Salaam and arranged scholarships and military training for Namibians who had started to join him there. Among the first arrivals were Simon Mzee Kaukungwa, Mosé Tjitendero, Hifikepunye Pohamba and Nickey Iyambo. He also attended numerous international conferences and his diplomatic forays started to pay off when the Organization of African Unity recognised SWAPO in 1965.

In 1960s Nujoma planned to launch an armed struggle. In 1962 SWAPO founded its armed wing the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). Nujoma himself procured the first weapons from Algeria. Before the fighting commenced, Nujoma, accompanied by Hifikepunye Pohamba, decided to challenge the South African assertion that they were in self-imposed exile by returning to Windhoek. They flew in on March 21 1966, only to be arrested on arrival and deported sixteen hours later. On August 26 1966 the first armed clash of the liberation struggle took place when the South African police attacked SWAPO combatants who had set up a camp at Omugulugwombashe. The attack would mark the beginning of the Namibian War of Independence. In 1969 Nujoma was re-affirmed as SWAPO President at the Tanga Consultative Conference in Tanzania. In the late 1960s Nujoma continued his diplomatic rounds as SWAPO set up offices across Africa, Europe and the Americas. Although ostensibly based in Zambia from the early 1970s (after SWAPO moved its HQ to Lusaka), Nujoma was living out of a suitcase for much of the time. He acknowledged in his autobiography that he "spent a large part of each year in hotel rooms and conference halls". A diplomatic breakthrough came in October 1971 when Nujoma became the first African liberation movement leader to address the United Nations Security Council. Nujoma and SWAPO's international campaigning bore further fruit at the end of 1973 when the UN General Assembly recognized SWAPO as the "authentic representative of the Namibian people".

In 1974 the Portuguese empire collapsed and Namibia's border with Angola opened up. Nujoma recognised that this paved the way for major changes in the way the war was being fought and over the next two years SWAPO's military campaign shifted its base from Zambia to Angola. The opening of the border enabled thousands of SWAPO supporters to stream out of Namibia to join the movement in exile. Nujoma's son Utoni Nujoma and his two brothers were among those who arrived in Zambia. In the late 1970s Nujoma led the SWAPO delegation to talks with the Western Contact Group (WCG), which consisted of West Germany, Britain, France, USA and Canada, about proposals that would eventually become United Nations Security Council Resolution 435, passed in September 1978. While agreement on Resolution 435, which embodied the plan for free and fair elections in Namibia, was undoubtedly a diplomatic coup, its implementation became bogged down for another ten years. South African delaying tactics and the Ronald Reagan administration's decision to link a Cuban withdrawal from Angola to Namibia independence frustrated hopes of an immediate settlement.

After 29 years in exile, Nujoma returned to Namibia in September 1989 to lead SWAPO to victory in the UN-supervised elections that paved the way for independence. The Constituent Assembly, elected in November 1989, chose him as Namibia's first President and he was sworn in on March 21 1990, which would become Namibia's Independence Day.

President of SWAPO

External images

http://www.klausdierks.com/images/Nujoma_1960s.jpg Sam Nujoma (right) with Bishop Colin Winter and Shapua Kaukungua, 1960s. Original source: Namibia State Archive.

In 1960 he became the first President of the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), having co-founded its forerunner, the Ovamboland People's Organization, in the late 1950s. At the time South Africa administered the land under a policy of apartheid, in which the best resources were reserved for those classified white, while other Namibians were treated as inferior. After years of asking the United Nations to ensure the occupying power South Africa released control of South West Africa, he authorised armed resistance in 1966. This began the Namibian War of Independence, which lasted 24 years.

During the struggle, Nujoma took the combat name "Shafiishuna", meaning "lightning", as the name was in his family on his father's side.^[2]

President of Namibia

Nujoma pictured on an HIV billboard in 2004

As head of SWAPO, Nujoma was unanimously declared president upon the victory of SWAPO in a United Nations-supervised election in 1989, and was sworn in by UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar on 21 March 1990.

In 1992 Norway decided to stop drought relief to Namibia in response to the purchase of an expensive new presidential jet and two new VIP helicopters. The planes were bought just few weeks after Sam Nujoma had appealed to the international community for drought aid.^[3] Many years later, Nujoma is still being criticised for excessive luxury and perks he gets at the cost of Namibian state, that is applying for the status of least developed country.^[4]

In 1990 Nujoma initiated a plan for land reform, in which land would be redistributed from whites to blacks. Some 12% of the total commercial farmland in the country was taken away from white farmers and given to black citizens by 2007.^[5] However, according to a 1998 statement made by the Cabinet of Namibia "the agricultural base is too weak to offer a sustainable basis for prosperity" and 38% of Namibia's rural population continue to live beneath the poverty line as of 2010.^[6]

Nujoma was re-elected as President of Namibia in December 1994 with 76.3% of the vote.^[7] The constitution of Namibia was changed to allow Nujoma to run for a third five-year term in 1999; this was justified on the grounds that he had not been directly elected for his first term, and the change applied only to Nujoma. He won the 1999 election with 76.8% of the vote.^[7] The constitution did not allow Nujoma to run in November 2004 for a fourth term, and there was not much enthusiasm even within SWAPO to change it again. Hifikepunye Pohamba, described by some as Nujoma's "hand-picked successor", was elected as the candidate for the presidential election during the SWAPO congress held on the 30 May 2004, defeating two other candidates, Nahas Angula and Hidipo Hamutenya. The latter had been dismissed from his post of Foreign Affairs minister by Nujoma barely two days before the congress. Pohamba was elected with a large majority and was sworn in on 21 March 2005.

Post-presidency

Nujoma meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Windhoek on 25 June 2009.

While Pohamba replaced Nujoma as the President of Namibia, Nujoma stayed on as President of SWAPO.^[8] There was speculation that he would be re-elected as SWAPO leader in 2007 and that he was planning to run for president again in 2009.^[9] In early October 2007, however, Nujoma said that he had no intention of seeking re-election as SWAPO President and would stand aside in favor of Pohamba, the Vice-President of SWAPO, later in the year, after 47 years as party leader.^[10][11] Pohamba was accordingly elected unopposed as SWAPO President on 29 November 2007 at a party congress. Nujoma said that he was "passing the torch and mantle of leadership to comrade Pohamba".^[12] The congress also decided to give Nujoma the title of Leader of the Namibian Revolution, in addition to his existing title, Founding Father of the Namibian Nation.^[13] Choosing to leave active politics, Nujoma was not re-elected to the SWAPO Central Committee or the Politburo,^[14] but the congress granted him permission to attend meetings of the Central Committee and Politburo "at his discretion". He may also receive the title of National Chairman of SWAPO.^[13]

Nujoma's son Utoni Nujoma is Deputy Minister of Justice and was elected to the Central Committee and Politburo of SWAPO at its November 2007 congress.^[13]

The director of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) in Namibia stated that Nujoma had connections to the CIA.^[15] The organisation has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Nujoma and what they say is his role in disappearances during his term. To date, these claims have not been substantiated.^[16]

Nujoma's mother, Kuku Helvi-Mpingana Kondombombolo, lived to an exceptionally old age, dying in November 2008; she was reportedly more than 100 years old.^[17]

In 2009, Sam Nujoma attained a Master's degree in Geology from the University of Namibia.

Despite stepping down from a formal role, Nujoma is still active in the political sphere, regularly campaigning for SWAPO at various rallies and functions across the country.

Awards and recognition

Nujoma has received a string of international awards for his role in the struggle against apartheid and colonialism.

• Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union, 1973
• Medaglia Pontificia (Pope's Medal), Anno VI, 1984
• Ho Chi Minh Peace Award from Vietnam, 1988
• Grant Master Order Merit (The Grant Cruz) from Brazil, 1988
• The Namibia Freedom Award from the California State University, USA, 1988
• Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for Disarmament and Development from India, 1990
• Order of José Marti from Cuba, 1991
• Order of Merit from the Republic of Congo, 1991
• Medaglia Pontificia (Pope's Medal), Anno XIII, 1991
• Chief of Golden Heart from Kenya, 1992
• Order of the National Flag from North Korea, 1992
• Grand Master of the Order of Welwitschia from Namibia, 1995
• Order of Liberty, Portugal, 1995
• Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, The Hunger Project, 1995
• Order of Good Hope (Gold), South Africa, 1996
• Order of Friendship Award from Vietnam, 2002
• Fellowship Award from the Institute of Governance and Social Research in Nigeria, 2003
• Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana, 2004
• Lifetime Conservation Award, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Namibia, 2004. (Nujoma is the international patron of this organisation since 1991)^[18]

Honorary honors

Nujoma also received honorary status from several United State's cities including Atlanta, San Francisco, New York and Chicago. He has multiple honorary doctorates, including from:

• Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, 1982
• Lincoln University, USA (1990)
• Federal University of Technology, Nigeria, 1992
• Central State University, Ohia, USA, 1993
• University of Atlanta, USA, 1997
• State University of New Jersey, USA, 1997
• Russian Economic Academy, Russia, 1998
• Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Russia, 1998
• Doctorate honoris causa in Education from the University of Namibia, 1993
• Doctorate honoris causa in Public Management from Polytechnic of Namibia, 2005.^[19]

See also

• History of Namibia
• Aaron Mushimba, brother-in-law and prominent businessperson

References

Bibliography

• Sam Nujoma, Where Others Wavered, The Autobiography of Sam Nujoma, London 2001

External links

• Nujoma's interview to German magazine Die Welt (in German)
• Nujoma: Where Others Wavered (2006) imdb

v t e Presidents of Namibia Sam Nujoma Hifikepunye Pohamba