00:00Sam Njoma, the activist and guerrilla leader who became Namibia's first democratically
00:07elected president after its independence from apartheid-era South Africa, died on Saturday
00:13at the age of 95.
00:15Njoma led the sparsely populated Southern African nation from March 21, 1990, and was
00:22officially recognized as the founding father of the Namibian nation through a 2005 Act
00:28of Parliament.
00:29A long-time ally of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, he supported Mugabe's land seizures
00:35from white farmers, though at home he adhered to a willing-buyer, willing-seller land policy.
00:42The presidency announced on X that Njoma had been hospitalized for medical treatment over
00:47the past three weeks.
00:49Serving three terms from 1990 to 2005, Njoma sought to position himself as a unifying leader,
00:56bridging political divides in a country still grappling with the legacy of apartheid and
01:01German colonial rule.
01:03Under his SWAPO party, Namibia implemented a national reconciliation program under the
01:09motto, One Namibia, One Nation.
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