Sam Nujoma, Namibia's independence leader, dies aged 95: presidency

Former Namibian President Sam Nujoma arrives for the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on December 5, 2003. Sam Nujoma, the guerrilla leader who became Namibia's first president after it won independence from South Africa in 1990, died aged 95 on February 9, 2025, the Namibian presidency said in a post on Facebook. [AFP]

Sam Nujoma, the guerrilla leader who became Namibia's first president after it won independence from South Africa in 1990, died aged 95 on Saturday, the Namibian presidency said in a post on Facebook.

Nujoma had been hospitalised over the past three weeks, battling an illness from which he "could not recover", President Nangolo Mbumba said in a statement announcing the death.