Luanda - The Political Bureau of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA BP), considered the first President of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, who passed away on Saturday, an intrepid defender of the cause of development and integration between African states and the southern region, in particular.
In a message of condolence, on the death of the Africanist, the Angolan ruling party BP states that with his leadership, Namibia experienced a process of national reconciliation, unifying the different ethnic groups and the most diverse political trends in the country.
The MPLA BP states that it learned with pain, anguish and deep sadness, of the death of the former statesman of the Republic of Namibia.
In its condolence message, MPLA BP mentioned that Nujoma, at the head of South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) and with his visionary leadership, converted the liberation struggle for Namibia's independence from the oppressive yoke of the racist regime in South Africa.
“Comrade Nujoma was a great friend of Angola, of Angolans and of the MPLA in particular, with whom he shared a long history of struggle and victories”, reads the note of condolence.
The MPLA BP note added that in this moment of pain and mourning for Namibia, for Namibians and for the continent in general, on behalf of its militants, friends and supporters and all brothers in the trenches in the common struggle against the apartheid regime, bows to their memory and extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved family, the Namibian people and the SWAPO militants.
It promises that his patriotic spirit, expressed in words and actions, serves as inspiration in the common exercise of developing the continent and the region in particular.
Sam Nujoma was born on May 12, 1929, from a farming family and he was the eldest of 10 children. At age 17 he left the remote northern village where he lived and moved to the western port town of Walvis Bay.
He soon observed discrimination against black people and quickly became a member of a union, attending night classes, where he met those considered pro-Independence activists.
Sam Nujoma was forced into exile in 1960, first in Botswana, then in Ghana and the United States, at a time when he had to leave behind a wife and four children.
At the head of SWAPO, he launched the armed struggle in 1966, which resulted in the war for independence that claimed more than 20,000 lives.
When he became president of Namibia, Sam Nujoma decided to create a commission to investigate the atrocities committed during the 23-year conflict between SWAPO and pro-South African death squads.
After retiring from political life, he returned to school and obtained a master's degree in Geology, being convinced that the mountains of Namibia contained untapped mineral riches. ART/MRA/DOJ
