'Don't Panic': Namibian VP Nangolo Mbumba sworn in as president after Hage Geingob's death

Namibia’s Vice President Nangolo Mbumba has taken over the country’s presidency hours after he announced the death of President Hage Geingob on Sunday.

Mbumba is expected to hold office until the Namibian elections due later this year. “I am not going to be around for the elections so don’t panic,” he said at the swearing-in ceremony.

Geingob, 82, died during the wee hours of Sunday while he was receiving treatment at a hospital in the capital city of Windhoek. An icon of the independence struggle, Geingob was diagnosed with cancer, the details of which were made public last month.

Mbumba added, “Our nation remains calm and stable owing to the leadership of President Geingob who was the chief architect of the constitution”, as he paid tribute to the late leader.

“I take on this heavy mantle cognisant of the weight of responsibility,” he said.

The exact cause of the former president’s death has not been revealed yet but according to his office, Geingob flew to the US to receive “a two-day novel treatment for cancerous cells.”

A people’s leader, Geingob was first sworn in as the country’s president in 2015, before which he held many senior political positions.

Since the news of his death, Namibian citizens have shared their memories of Geingob, with many describing him as a visionary and jovial man.

The 82-year-old former president played a pivotal role in Namibia’s independence struggle after he returned home from a long exile in Botswana and the US as an anti-apartheid activist.

He was the country’s third president since it gained independence in 1990. Geingob was set to finish his second and last term this year.

Condolences poured in from all across the world with leaders like Cyril Ramaphosa (South African President) describing him as “a towering veteran of Namibia’s liberation from colonialism and apartheid”.