Chief Manasse Christian Zeraeua of the Zeraeua Royal House has joined scores of other traditional authority leaders mourning the death of the late President Hage Geingob, saying he will remember him as a Pan-Africanist.
The leader pointed out that he shared close relations with the late Dr. Geingob for the past 46 years.
Chief Zeraeua was speaking at a candlelight service at Omatjete Settlement in Omaruru Constituency in the Erongo Region.
The event started with traditional Herero cultural rituals to signal mourning.
The chief took those in attendance on a trip down memory lane, recounting his days in 1978 with the late Namibian leader at the United Nations Institute in Lusaka.
On that occasion, he and fellow students were under the tutelage of the late Geingob.
"He was my director for a whole three years. It was during my studies at the institution that I observed and noticed the special quality of leadership in him. He was an administrator and gentleman per excellence. The late Hage Geingob was able to unite students who were at the institution, who came from different backgrounds, different cultures, and different traditions, into one peaceful, cohesive student community in Lusaka. That was a small task to do."
According to Chief Zeraeua, Geingob had an open-door policy for all students, and he would often interact to advance the Namibian independence struggle.
"I equally recall, during the weekdays, when we were still students there. We, together with the late Hage Geingob and all the lectures that were coming from Namibia, would gather under a tree to listen to various news channels to see what was the news about Namibia and what was the progress of the liberation struggle. At the forefront of the political front, that was why we religiously sat together under that tree to listen to information about Namibia. All of us, politically, in the military, or as commanders. He was indeed a man of the people."
The traditional leader added that Dr. Geingob and Namibia's steadfast support for oppressed people in Cuba, Palestine, and Western Sahara and the need for reform of the UN Security Council again came to the fore in recent months.
Locally, Geingob's legacy will be on the welfare of pensioners, unity for all under a Namibian house, and empowerment and promotion of youth and women.