Namibia's third president Hage Geingob died in the early hours of Sunday while receiving treatment for cancer.

The veteran leader was a strong anti-apartheid activist and lived outside Namibia for decades while South Africa ruled the country. He returned after independence in 1990 to become the former German colony's longest-serving prime minister.

What we know so far

Geingob was being treated at the private Lady Pohamba hospital in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, after his medical team had discovered cancerous cells following a biopsy.

The presidency announced on February 2 that Geingob had returned from the US, where he had received "a two-day novel treatment for cancerous cells."

Geingob's wife, Monica Geingob, and his children were at his side, acting president Nangolo Mbumba said in a statement on social media.

"The Namibian nation has lost a distinguished servant of the people, a liberation struggle icon, the chief architect of our constitution and the pillar of the Namibian house," Mbumba said.

The acting president said the Cabinet would meet swiftly to make the necessary state arrangements, and further announcements would follow.

Who was Hage Geingob? 

Geingob was born in a village in northern Namibia in 1941 and was his country's first president outside of the Ovambo ethnic group, which makes up more than half the population.

Geingob took up activism against apartheidfrom his early years, even before being driven into exile. After leaving Namibia, he spent almost three decades in Botswana and the United States.

While in the US, he represented the local liberation movement, SWAPO, now Namibia's ruling party, at the United Nations and across the Americas. 

He returned home to Namibia in 1989, a year before the country became independent from South Africa. 

Geingob was appointed prime minister when SWAPO won the first vote in 1990, and he held the position for 12 years before returning to it again in 2012 and going on to be president. 

'A towering veteran' of Namibian liberation

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the late Namibian president, calling him a formidable statesman. Steinmeier praised Geingob for taking a path of reconciliation with Germany "despite the heavy burden of our history."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany was losing "a partner who was committed to the process of coming to terms with Germany's colonial history with great openness."

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described Geingob as "a towering veteran of Namibia's liberation from colonialism and apartheid."

Kenyan President William Ruto said the former president "strongly promoted the continent's voice and visibility at the global arena."

Meanwhile, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Geingob's "leadership and resilience will be remembered."

rc,jcg/dj (dpa, AFP)