African leaders attend the funeral of Sam Nujoma, the “founding father” of Namibia

The “founding father” of Namibia, Sam Nujoma, who opposed colonialism and a military occupation by South Africa’s racist white minority government, was buried Saturday in Namibia by a group of African leaders from the past and present.

On March 21, 1990, Nujoma, who ascended from herding cattle as a youngster to head the sparsely populated, primarily desert southern African nation, was buried in front of dignitaries that included former President Thabo Mbeki, former South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

“We fought under your command,… won the liberation struggle, and forever removed apartheid colonialism from the face of Namibia,” Mbumba, the president, stated during a speech.

Two weeks after his death at the age of 95, Nujoma was buried in Heroes’ Acre, a military memorial spire constructed by North Korea, with his coffin covered in the red, green, and blue national flag.

The monument pays tribute to soldiers who battled for freedom from South African occupation after Germany lost the region in World War I and from genocidal German colonization.

During his tenure from 1990 to 2005, Nujoma made an effort to portray himself as a leader who could bring people together and overcome political differences.

He was criticized, meanwhile, for his intolerance of critical media coverage, his anti-homosexuality tirades, and the 1998 constitutional amendment that gave him the right to run for a third term.