Windhoek — Under a sky dimmed by evening, candles flickered across Hero’s Acre on Saturday as Namibians gathered at the memorial complex outside the capital to honor two of the country’s foremost post‑independence leaders: Sam Nujoma and Hage Geingob. The quiet, ritualized observance drew a measured crowd to a place long shaped into a national repository of memory — an avenue where the country’s liberation narrative and its later struggles to forge a modern state intersect.
The ceremony, organized on the anniversary weekend of both men’s deaths, was at once an act of private mourning and a public ritual of remembrance. Sam Nujoma, who died in February 2025 at age 95, led the South West Africa People’s Organisation, better known as Swapo, through the liberation struggle that culminated in independence in 1990 and was elected Namibia’s founding president. Hage Geingob, who served as the country’s first prime minister and later as its third president, died on Feb. 4, 2024.
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Netumbo Nandi‑Ndaitwah, Namibia’s current president, presided over the tribute, speaking not only to the achievements that made the men national figures but also to the work remaining in the nation’s long project of reconstruction. In remarks delivered at the stone memorials and echoed in the hush that followed, she paid tribute to the two leaders “who, each in his own time and in his own way” made immense contributions to the independence victory and to “the reconstruction and nation building efforts” that Namibia has pursued over the past 36 years.
The two statesmen represented distinct chapters of a single arc. Nujoma is widely remembered as the inspirational architect of Swapo’s liberation campaign and the elder statesman who presided as the country transitioned from colonial rule. Geingob’s career moved between the practicalities of governance and the politics of rebuilding: he occupied the office of prime minister early in the country’s post‑independence history and returned to lead the nation as president in a later period.
The ceremony at Hero’s Acre underscored how personal memory and state ritual intertwine in Namibia. Candles and quiet processions framed statues and plaques, allowing space for reflection on the paths the country has taken since 1990: the victories of independence, the compromises of politics, and the incremental work of institution‑building. For many in attendance, the event functioned as a moment to connect the sometimes abstract language of national policy with the human figures who embodied those policies.
Those attending moved deliberately through the memorial grounds, pausing at the markers that bear the names and legacies of national figures. The site itself — a landscaped complex outside Windhoek designed for national commemoration — has in recent years hosted similar ceremonies that stitch together history and civic purpose. This weekend’s observance made visible a continuing conversation about how Namibia remembers its past while plotting a course forward.
The ceremony also highlighted continuity within the governing party and the state. Nandi‑Ndaitwah, a long‑time Swapo figure and a senior official in successive administrations, framed the tributes around service and duty: the imperative, she said, to translate liberation’s promise into tangible governance. Her invocation of “reconstruction and nation building efforts” pointed to the layered challenges that have accompanied independence — from economic transformation to social cohesion — and to the role that leaders, both past and present, play in navigating those challenges.
For observers, the dual tribute offered a moment of national recalibration. Nujoma’s death revived memories of the independence struggle and the sacrifices made by an earlier generation; Geingob’s passing reopened questions about political stewardship in more recent decades. Together they form a continuum in Namibia’s political evolution, a reminder that the country’s story is the product of successive leaders and contested choices.
Outside the formal remarks, the candlelight cast a humanizing glow on a day of institutional remembrance. Where the headlines of politics often focus on policy disputes and election cycles, the memorial offered a different perspective: a sober accounting of how leadership and legacy are measured in the public mind. Some attendees lingered to speak quietly at the memorial stones; others used the evening to reflect on family histories entwined with national events.
Namibia marks the 36th anniversary of its independence this year, a milestone that frames the weekend’s ritual as both a look back and a prompt to reassess the nation’s future priorities. The ceremony at Hero’s Acre was less about eulogizing a distant past and more about asking what the next phase of nation‑building should be and who will be tasked with that work.
In a country whose modern history was forged by struggle and compromise, public acts of remembrance — like Saturday’s candlelight ceremony — serve a dual purpose: they honor the individuals who helped shape the state, and they bind citizens to a shared narrative at moments when the national project requires renewal. As candles waned and the evening drew to a close, the gathering at Hero’s Acre left behind the familiar traces of a civic ritual: impressions of light on stone, the low murmur of conversation, and the steady cadence of remembrance that keeps history present in a country’s public life.
Key facts
- Location: Hero’s Acre memorial complex, outside Windhoek, Namibia.
- Event: Candlelight remembrance ceremony honoring Sam Nujoma and Hage Geingob.
- Sam Nujoma: Died February 2025 at age 95; led Swapo during the liberation struggle; Namibia’s founding president following independence in 1990.
- Hage Geingob: Died Feb. 4, 2024; served as Namibia’s first prime minister and later as its third president.
- Speaker: President Netumbo Nandi‑Ndaitwah paid tribute to both leaders for their contributions to independence and “the reconstruction and nation building efforts” of the past 36 years.
By News-room
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
