Hage Gottfried Geingob, a notable Namibian politician, held the position of Namibia’s third president from 2015 until his passing in February 2024. Geingob was not only the inaugural Prime Minister of Namibia, serving from 1990 to 2002, but he also returned to the role from 2012 to 2015.
In the period from 2008 to 2012, Geingob took on the responsibilities of Minister of Trade and Industry. Additionally, he served as the president of the ruling SWAPO Party from 2017 until the time of his demise.
Who are Hage Geingob’s Parents and Siblings?
Despite Hage Geingob being a prominent president and politician in Namibia, information about his parents and siblings is limited.
Born in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, in 1941, Geingob received his early education at Otavi in South West Africa within the Bantu Education System. His educational journey continued at Augustineum, an institution where many of Namibia’s current political leaders were educated, starting in 1958. In 1960, he faced expulsion from Augustineum for participating in a protest march against the substandard quality of education.
Despite the setback, Geingob was readmitted and completed the teacher-training course in 1961. He then took a teaching position at Tsumeb Primary School in Central Namibia. However, discontent with the Bantu Education System and the limitations it imposed on his educational pursuits led him to leave the teaching job at the end of the school year.
Determined to challenge the existing educational system, Geingob, along with three colleagues, walked and hitchhiked to Botswana. From there, he planned to travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on a plane chartered by the African National Congress (ANC). Unfortunately, the plane was targeted by a bomb planted by South Africans, which detonated prematurely, preventing the plane from taking off.
The apartheid regime’s crackdown on the “underground railway” further complicated his plans, leading Geingob to stay in Botswana. During this time, he served as the Assistant South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) Representative from 1963 to 1964.