On to us a child was born, unto us a child was given, and his name is Samuel Daniel Shafiishuna Nujoma, the Founding Father of the Namibian nation. Next week the first President of an independent Namibia celebrates his 79th birthday. The gracious leader and statesman is in excellent health after a life dedicated to the emancipation of all the people from apartheid.

Dr. Sam Nujoma, the former President and Found Father of the Namibian nation.

Born on 12 May 1929, Dr. Nujoma grew up in Ongandjera, but moved to Walvis Bay in 1943, and to Windhoek in 1949 at the age of 20.
In the 1950s Nujoma met Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, a union organiser and founder of the Ovambo People's Congress, an organisation that was campaigning for the abolition of the Pass System, which had forced Black Namibians into accepting lower wages and lower job positions. Working in railways gave Nujoma the opportunity to become influential amongst many Black labourers and resulted in him being blacklisted in 1957.
The 1950s were the beginning of Nujoma's political activisms. In 1959, Nujoma went on to form the Owambo People's Organisation, and its fame began attracting even the non-Ovambo people, which led to the party being renamed SWAPO in 1960, because of its diverse tribes.
Spearheading protest and boycotts, Nujoma’s fame quickly attracted international attention. With a sole aim of ending South African colonial rule in Namibia, Najoma fell out of favour with the South African authorities and had to leave for exile in 1961 to the SWAPO headquarters in Tanzania.
He returned in 1989 after a peace agreement was reached between South Africa and SWAPO, and became Namibia's first president in 1990.
Nujoma was re-elected in 1994 and again in 1999 for a third term, before retiring in 2005. Opposition leaders, diplomats and citizens have had nothing but praise for him, with some describing him as a “statesman of note, who despite previous fears has obviously heeded democratic principles”.
Professor Micheal Omolewa, President of UNESCO, in a statement describes Nujoma as follows: “A great son of Africa; a most distinguished fighter for freedom and equality; a committed leader to the liberty and well-being of his people and an outstanding internationalist, whose very life has been a worthy example of belief in and commitment to the cooperation of the world in all its diversities, for the promotion of a more just and more peaceful world.”