Almost 33 years ago, in June1992, I entered the office of then Namibian Prime Minister Dr. Hage Gottfried Geingob to receive my teaching letters. I had entered Namibia a few years after it’s independence (March 21, 1990) a young man with enthusiasm and filled with a sprit of Pan- Africanism.
We had completed our own liberation in Uganda – in which I participated – and now had moved south to contribute, once again, in the final stages of African liberation. I was the first Ugandan teacher in Namibia and often mistaken for a student!
While it was not easy to get a teaching job in Namibia, PM Hage Geingob did an exception to the “Ugandan footloose teacher” named so because I had gone there without being seconded by my country. Around the time all foreign teachers in Namibia were “volunteer” teachers from Nigeria, Britain, Australia and America.
But soon I stood out though for other reasons I may not divulge here.
When I went in, the President was Sam Shafishona Nujoma whom the Namibian people later unanimously and overwhelmingly ‘asked’ to rule for a third term without any opposition (one day I shall talk about this great leader and freedom fighter).
It was a journey too far but which, ultimately, brought with it immeasurable benefits to me and my learners. I will forever be greatful for the opportunities given to me when in Namibia.
Meeting then PM Hage Geingob was an occasion like no other meeting in person this extraordinary man who had sacrificed all his adult life to liberate his then downtrodden peoples of South West Africa later fittingly renamed Namibia.
His story stirred the entire nation of Namibia with his passion, courage and ability. Like his other comrades in the liberation front called SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization), Dr. Geingob lived the life of sacrifice for others may be free.
President Geingob was not a Messiah or prophet born in the Namib and Kalahari deserts, but an ordinary folk who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.
Mr Geingob, a tall man with a deep, gravelly voice and a commanding presence was a long-serving member of the Swapo party. It led the movement against apartheid South Africa, which had effectively annexed the country, then known as South West Africa, and introduced its system of legalised racism that excluded black people from political and economic power.
Like his fellow freedom fighters, he run away from Namibia as a young man to join the liberation struggle.
Mr Geingob lived in exile for 27 years, spending time in Botswana, the US and the UK, where he studied for a PhD in politics. He led the UN Namibia Institute based in Lusaka Zambia from where he helped write the new Namibian constitution.
He came back to Namibia in 1989, a few months before the country gained independence.
He was born among a people called Damaras who have closer origin to Namas both related to San (Hottentots) people wrongly called ‘bushmen’ by ignorant folks. He looked after small goats and later refused to partake in an apartheid education system which was turning black people into fools!
After independence in 1990, Hage Geingob was the only none Owambo (Ovambo) person to rule Namibia as president. This is a great fit to have attained that. These Owambos are Bantu people with origin in Angola who largely fought in the liberation struggle.
First President was Sam Nujoma an Owambo from Ongangela then succeed by Pombili Hifekepunye Pohamba again an Owambo from Kwanyama (land of meat) and now new president Nangolo Mbumba also an Owambo. It is already known that President Mbumba will be succeeded by Mama Netumbo Nandi- Ndaitwah also an Owambo.
Namibia had great freedom fighters like Sam Shafishona Nujoma, Mishack Miyongo, Peter Mweshihange, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Pombili Hifekepunye Pohamba, Nangolo Mbumba, Gen. Dimo Amambo, Teo Ben Gurirab, Hidipo Hamutenya, Nas Hangula, Meme Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Mako Hausiku, Vitalis Ankama, Nkrumah Musherenga, Kandombo, among others.
Then one of the heroes of Namibia a country often called “Land of the brave” passed away on Sunday 4th February, 2024.
It was Hage Gottfried Geingob whose light shorn for the last time on Sunday. He was a freedom fighter and patriot, for whom no task was too small. May his soul rest in eternal peace!
APPOINTING GODFREY KIRUMIRA NAMIBIAN CONSUL IN UGANDA:
One of Dr. Hage Geingob’s last extraordinary acts for Namibia was appointing a renowned Ugandan business man and philanthropist His Excellency Mr. Godfrey Kirumira Kalule as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Namibia in Uganda.
It is all fitting that the death of a great man can only be juxtaposed with the rise of another great man.
H.E Godfrey Kirumira (GK) is no ordinary man. Fellow business man and a friend, Hamis (Ham) Kiggundu describes H.E Godfrey Kirumira in the following words:
“His Excellency is not merely
a rich man but a successful,
humble gentleman and an
icon to us all.”
And yet another tycoon, Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia thinks that: “Godfrey Kirumira always makes other people around him happy.”
For those who don’t know Kirumira the diplomat, listen to these words he used when making an acceptance speech after his appointment:
“Drawing water from a stone is
much easier than picking the
right words to say before you!”
Regardless he delivered a great speech, on the occasion of accepting his appointment, full of hope for both Ugandans and Namibian people. It is only fitting that a country like Namibia would go for a business man as their consul rather than an academic or politician.
Namibia, led by freedom fighters who had no “certificate education” per se or never took it seriously, remains one of the most peaceful and economically robust states in Africa. It has a fantastic succession political system that even future “presidents” are already known and being nurtured.
Surely Uganda has to learn more from Namibia a country with a similar history with kings and chiefs and big enough to swallow about four Uganda. Like it’s neighbors Angola, Botswana and South Africa; Namibia is a wealthy nation.
H.E Kirumira will surely encourage Ugandan politicians to often benchmark in Namibia. It is a huge country in land mass but with a small population. It has an excellent road, air and railway net work covering a country which is nearly 4 times larger than Uganda but with a population of 2.3million people.
AND YET H.E KIRUMIRA IS UGANDA’S JEWEL:
Uganda is a country with people with extraordinary talents and skills. Criminals are here; great researchers are here so are compredor capitalists a people who can build arcades and other high-rise buildings without bank loans.
But country Uganda is not good at discovering or honoring it’s talents.
How did the government of Uganda or President Museveni, if you like, miss the extraordinary talents of Godfrey Kirumira? Now Namibia is going to reap big as Ugandans leak their wounds.
I got a chance to visit H.E Godfrey Kirumira at his consulate offices located at Lumumba Avenue (to sign a condolence book) and was lost for words. The organization in that place beats anything you will find occupied by a Ugandan government minister. He is indeed very humble and a charming man with the usual investigative look of a man with extraordinary wealth.
Most importantly, he takes his new role of representing Namibia in Uganda very seriously.
H.E Kirumira is a jewel and a Ugandan jewel but Namibia is taking him away. Are our leaders really interested in unearthing our jewels to help enhance and kickstart development here? Many mediocre people are scooping positions and get promoted way above their capacity to perform.
Kudos to the nation of Namibia to come all the way here and headhunted H.E Godfrey Kirumira. Now he is on a crusade to take Ugandan business men and women to Namibia a country which will surely win them over because of its business incentives, generous bank interest loans, general structural organization and political maturity.
People wishing to visit Namibia, because of H.E Godfrey Kirumira, visas are issued at border entry or airports.
The sky is the limit to what Ugandans and Namibians will mutually reap from a Godfrey Kirumira leadership.
Country Namibia has a lot of minerals like diamonds, copper and uranium. It has plenty of fish and fish products including a respectable manufacturing sector. It’s agriculture, though a semi-arid country, is very commendable. It exports beef to European Union and Namibian secondary school teachers earns nearly 5times their Ugandan counterparts.
A school teacher in Namibia must, as a matter of necessity, own a new car.
Generally Namibians are open to new ideas than most Africans. Nurses and doctors are paid even more and they work in modern facilities. Trade unions, like in neighboring South Africa, are very active.
Namibia has a better developed and marketed tourism sector than Uganda. It also has many natural wonders like the Kalahari and Namib deserts, the world’s oldest, and the Etosha Salt Pan also the world’s biggest. If you have a thing for white people especially Germans, Namibia is waiting for you.
With H.E Kirumira at the helm, one can clearly see where the relationship between Uganda and Namibia is heading. It might be a one-way traffic to Windhoek, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Oshakati, Ondangwa, Rehoboth and Tsumeb.
BY WAY OF CONCLUSION:
When I met Dr. Hage Geingob in his office in Windhoek, he welcomed me to Namibia and wished me well. He particularly mentioned something which I still vividly recall. He told me inter lia the following:
“During our struggle, a plane
landed in one African country
and they refused me to
highlight. I was told to stay in
my seat because I was an
unwanted person!”
I was quiet through that sad conversation and praying silently that the country which denied Dr. Geingob entry wouldn’t have been Uganda. Though I got my letters, I have this strong feeling that Hage Geingob might have been refused entry by Uganda.
It is therefore not surprising that a humble man like President Dr. Hage Gottfried Geingob would choose to work with another humble man like H.E Godfrey Kirumira Kalule.
LAST WORD: “In the world of diplomacy, some things are better left unsaid.”
Adam Kamulegeya
adamkam2003@gmail.com
0779 104 336
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