President Nangolo Mbumba says the decision by Botswana's government to hold a memorial service for the late President Hage Geingob is a demonstration of historical ties between the two countries.
President Mbumba is leading the Namibian delegation, comprising a number of government officials, to the memorial service to be held in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, on Wednesday.
The Head of State will also pay a courtesy call on President Mokgweetsi Masisi after the memorial service.
In addition to the strong bilateral ties between Namibia and Botswana, President Mbumba says the late Dr. Geingob and President Masisi shared a personal friendship.
Botswana provided 49 vehicles and 20 motorbikes to complement Namibia's logistics during the mourning period until the burial on February 25th.
"This is just an indication of President Masisi's attitude towards Namibia and also our historical relationship with Botswana. From the time of colonialism up until now, from the days when we were running out of Namibia to go into exile, many people passed through Botswana. Actually, the Founding President and all of us followed the same route until later, when the Angolan route opened up. So we have to honour that President Masisi was here on February 5; that was just a day after."
The Geingob-Masisi friendship has paved the way for the fast-tracking of decisions to the benefit of the citizens of both countries.
Their quick-wittedness, often characterised by laughter and frankness, led to the adoption of more than 20 decisions taken during the inaugural Botswana-Namibia Bi-National Commission meeting held in 2022.
The pinnacle of these decisions is the use of ID cards for travel and the extension of the operating hours of the Trans-Kalahari/Mamuno Border Post as part of the larger project to transform into a one-stop shop.
The Namibia Revenue Agency at the time revealed that the busiest port of entry in the two countries processes, on average, up to 225 trucks per day.
President Masisi had described the death of President Geingob as devastating, further recalling that the late Namibian statesman had a special place in his heart for Botswana.