Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma – First and Former President of Namibia
 
  

After the shootings at Windhoek’s Old Location in December 1959, political repression in Namibia increased and, with Nujoma facing the likelihood of being ‘internally exiled’ to Owamboland, the OPO decided that he should join the other Namibians in exile who were lobbying the UN on behalf of the anti-colonial cause for Namibia. Nujoma left Namibia in February 1960 and, by various means, made his way to Tanzania, which was still the British colony of Tanganyika. There he received permission to address the UN Committee on South West Africa in New York and, while en route, visited the independent African countries of Ghana and Liberia. It was during this time that the decision was taken to give the OPO a national character by changing its name to the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), with Nujoma as its first, and thus far only, president. In New York, Nujoma addressed a number of UN committees, a forerunner of his involvement in international diplomacy that would intensify with the years.

With strong support from Julius Nyerere, the future leader of independent Tanzania, Nujoma established SWAPO’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam, where other exiled Namibians began to join him. Thanks to their efforts, SWAPO gained important support and status, especially when the Organisation of African Unity recognized SWAPO in 1965. Nujoma worked tirelessly for SWAPO, setting up offices in various countries around the world, achieving significant diplomatic success when, in 1971, he was the first leader of an African liberation movement to address the UN Security Council. There was further success when in 1976 the UN General Assembly recognized SWAPO as ‘sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people’.

A notable incident in Nujoma’s political career occurred in 1966, when he and his colleague, Hifikepunye Pohamba, decided to challenge the South African assertion that they were in ‘self-exile’. They arrived in Windhoek by air but were deported less than 24 hours later, thus exposing the assertion as nothing more than propaganda. At the same time, SWAPO was planning an armed struggle against South African rule in Namibia; the first incident occurred when South African police overran a SWAPO combatant camp at Omugulu-gOmbashe in Owamboland. Notwithstanding this initial setback, SWAPO began to intensify its military efforts from bases in Zambia. In 1974 the collapse of the Portuguese empire allowed SWAPO to shift its bases to Angola, from where the whole northern border with Namibia was open to attack and infiltration.

The opening up of this border proved to be a mixed blessing for Nujoma and the ‘old guard’, because it allowed thousands of SWAPO supporters to leave Namibia to join the exiled movement. Many of them were young and idealistic, demanding a more representative organisation in which they could play more decisive roles. At the same time, after dissatisfaction amongst SWAPO fighters in Zambia, more than a thousand were arrested by Zambian security forces while an unknown number were killed. The upheavals led to a number of senior SWAPO members being accused of being enemy agents; as a result, they were detained, sidelined, or left the movement. Suspicions increased and SWAPO’s security personnel began to arrest more and more of the organisation's own members, accusing them of being spies and traitors, and detaining and torturing them in Lubango in southern Angola. Even Nujoma’s wife was placed under house arrest in Lubango in 1988. An unknown number of detainees died or were killed and hundreds were confined in the dungeons for many years. This period cast a dark shadow over SWAPO’s reputation and impaired its effectiveness, not least because some of the movement’s brightest and best personnel were detained.

 

  As the internal and external pressures on the South African regime increased, it began to negotiate over Namibia with the UN Security Council and its five-member Western Contact Group, comprising Britain, Canada, France, the United States, and West Germany. Nujoma led the SWAPO delegation in these negotiations, which eventually led to UN Security Council Resolution 435 and a comprehensive plan and set of measures for bringing Namibia to internationally recognized independence. With the connivance of the USA, South Africa managed to delay developments for nearly a decade until, finally, Resolution 435 was implemented on 1st April 1989. Nujoma returned to Namibia in triumph on 14th September of that year and led the successful SWAPO election campaign for the Constituent Assembly, which became the first parliament of independent Namibia and elected Nujoma as the first president of the country. Nujoma eventually served three terms, gaining larger majorities with each election, after the constitution was amended to allow him to stand for an extra term.

At independence, Namibia was gravely divided as a result of a century of colonialism, dispossession, and racial discrimination, compounded by armed struggle and propaganda. For instance, SWAPO had been so demonised by the colonial media and by official pronouncements that most white people, as well as many members of other groups, regarded the movement with the deepest fear, loathing, and suspicion. One of Nujoma’s earliest achievements was to proclaim the policy of ‘national reconciliation’, which aimed to improve and harmonise relations amongst Namibia’s various racial and ethnic groups. Generally, under his presidency, Namibia made steady if unspectacular economic progress, maintained a democratic system with respect for human rights (with some notable deviations), observed the rule of law, and worked steadily to eradicate the heritage of apartheid in the interests of developing a non-racial society. On the downside, prizing loyalty above nearly everything else, Nujoma proved to be intolerant of opposition or alternative points of view within the party. He was also notorious for sometimes deviating from his set speeches on prominent public occasions to launch intemperate, impromptu verbal attacks. Following the example of his admired friend Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, the most common targets of his verbal assaults were gays, lesbians, 'Boers', and foreigners in general. Also, probably because he prized loyalty so highly, Nujoma allowed a culture of corruption to develop within the civil service and parastatals without taking serious steps to deal with most of the perpetrators. As a result, by the turn of the century, a new incident of malfeasance involving public money and the state's facilities, each case usually amounting to millions of Namibian dollars, seemed to be uncovered every other week. Most were directly encouraged by the cronyism and patronage that were notable characteristics of Nujoma's presidency. The 'father of the nation' - now an officila title, bestowed on Nujoma by an admiring parliament - was both paternal and paternalistic.

In conclusion, to return to where we began, Nujoma is the all-time Colossus of Namibian politics and public life, enjoying a reputation and status that is torso, head, and shoulders above everyone else’s - warts and all.

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