Namibia: Geingob Laid to Rest

President Hage Geingob, Namibia’s third president who died on 4 February, was buried at Heroes’ Acre on the outskirts of Windhoek on Sunday, 25 February.

Geingob died shortly after his cancer diagnosis was made public on 17 January. The late president is survived by his wife Monica Geingos, eight children, two siblings and grandchildren.

Geingos said her husband was sincere and it was that sincerity that connected people to him.

“Hage connected easily to people. You were born a peasant and died a president,” Geingos said during his final memorial service on Saturday.

Geingob’s funeral was attended by Namibians of all walks of live, representatives from 27 countries and 18 heads of state, which included several African heads of state like South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, Angolan president João Lourenço, president of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi and Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The British royal family was represented by the sister of Britain’s King Charles III, princess Anne, while Germany’s president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Finland’s president Sauli Niinistö and Qatari president sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani were also in attendance.

During the memorial and burial, Geingob’s casket was escorted by the pallbearers: former agriculture minister Alpheus !Naruseb, deputy prime minister John Mutorwa, former defence chief Martin Shalli, Geingob’s eldest son Mangaliso Fernandez Geingob, official opposition leader McHenry Venaani and Swapo veteran Ben Amathila.

The Heroes’ Acre is a historic landmark in Namibia, known as the final resting place of individuals who are accorded the status of hero. The site has nine symbolic graves (mausoleums), reserved for heads of state, one of which is now occupied by Geingob.

The ‘Unknown Soldier’ statue at the site will stand guard over Geingob’s gravesite.