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WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — Namibian President Hage Geingob was laid to relaxation within the nation’s Heroes’ Acre cemetery on Sunday following a state funeral attended by African leaders, the German president and Princess Anne, the sister of Britain’s King Charles III.
Geingob died earlier this month on the age of 82 whereas receiving remedy for most cancers. He was Namibia’s third president because it gained independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Earlier than that, the southern African nation was a German colony.
Geingob’s widow, Monica Geingos, delivered a message at a memorial service on Saturday paying tribute to her husband’s rise from humble, rural roots to be his nation’s chief and a broadly revered determine on the African continent.
“You have been born a peasant and died a president,” Geingos mentioned on the memorial service at a soccer stadium that was stuffed with mourners.
At his funeral on Sunday, Geingob’s coffin was draped within the Namibian flag and was carried in a glass case on the again of a navy trailer.
Representatives from 27 international locations attended the funeral, together with Princess Anne, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Qatar President Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and 18 heads of state. The leaders of South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe all attended.
Steinmeier mentioned on the memorial service it was time Germany extends an official apology to the folks of Namibia for atrocities inflicted upon them throughout the 1904-1908 genocide, when German navy forces killed roughly 50,000-65,000 of Namibia’s Herero ethnic group and one other 10,000 members of the Nama ethnic group.
Geingob had pushed for reparations for the communities affected by the massacres greater than a century in the past. In 2021, the German authorities provided Namibia $1.1 billion in improvement funds to be paid over 30 years as reparations. It was rejected by the Namibian Parliament and by the communities, who requested for an improved supply.
“After I talked to Geingob for the final time final 12 months, he spoke of his want for the conclusion of the genocide negotiations,” Steinmeier mentioned. “We’re dedicated to the trail of reconciliation. It isn’t about closing the previous. It’s about taking duty for this previous and committing to a greater future.”
Geingob’s remaining resting place will likely be in one of many 9 mausoleums at Heroes’ Acre which were put aside for Namibians who’re awarded nationwide hero standing.
Geingob performed a central position in what has turn into one in all Africa’s most secure democracies after coming back from a protracted exile in Botswana and the US as an anti-apartheid activist. Namibia’s independence got here after greater than a century of German after which apartheid South African rule.
He had been president since 2015 and was set to complete his second and remaining time period this 12 months. Geingob additionally served as Namibia’s first prime minister after independence from 1990 to 2002 and was prime minister for a second time from 2012 to 2015.
His deputy, Vice President Nangolo Mbumba, was sworn in as appearing president within the capital, Windhoek, on the day of Geingob’s dying on Feb. 4 to finish the presidential time period as allowed by the structure.
Namibia will elect a brand new president in a vote set for November.
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AP Africa information: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Sonja Smith, The Related Press
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