Sawt Falasteen - Tributes for Namibian independence leader Nujoma, dead at 95

Tributes poured in for the southern African country's "founding father", with South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa crediting Nujoma as an inspiration for his own country's struggle against white minority rule.

The SWAPO liberation group leader died late Saturday after being hospitalised for three weeks, battling an illness from which he "could not recover", Namibia's President Nangolo Mbumba said in a statement.

With the "utmost sorrow and sadness" Mbumba said he was announcing "the passing of our revered freedom fighter and revolutionary leader".

"Our Founding Father lived a long and consequential life during which he exceptionally served the people of his beloved country," he added.

Namibia finally became independent in 1990, with Nujoma winning the country's first democratic election that year.

In a tribute, Ramaphosa called Nujoma "an extraordinary freedom fighter who divided his revolutionary programme between Namibia's own struggle against South African colonialism and the liberation of South Africa from apartheid".

Born to poor farmers from the Ovambo tribe, Nujoma was the eldest of 10 children.

He took a job as a railway sweeper near Windhoek in 1949 while attending night classes.

There, he met Herero tribal chief Hosea Kutako who was lobbying to end apartheid rule in Namibia, then known as South West Africa.

Kutako became his mentor, shepherding Nujoma as he became politically active among black workers resisting a government order to move to a new township in the late 1950s.

At Kutako's request, Nujoma went into exile in 1960, leaving his wife and four children behind.

That same year, he was elected president of the South West Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO) and shuttled from capital to capital seeking support.

SWAPO launched an armed struggle in 1966 after South Africa refused a UN order to give up its mandate over the former German colony -- arguing that it was a buffer against the advance of communism in Africa.

- 'Visionary leadership' -

The resource-rich sub-Saharan country was one of the last countries in Africa to become independent.

Over his three terms Nujoma presided over a period of relative economic prosperity and political stability.

His policy on AIDS earned some international praise.

But he came under fire for refusing to rehabilitate several hundred SWAPO members who were kept in prison in Angola as "spies for apartheid South Africa".

He was also known to rail against same-sex relationships, which he called a "madness", and warned in 2001 that gays and lesbians would be arrested or deported.

His handpicked successor Hifikepunye Pohamba took over as president in 2005. But Nujoma was still seen as the power behind the throne and did not officially retire from politics for another two years.

He "inspired us to rise to our feet and to become masters of this vast land of our ancestors," President Mbumba said.

President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah paid tribute to Nujoma's "visionary leadership and dedication to liberation and nation-building", which she said "laid the foundation for our free, united nation".

"Let us honour his legacy by upholding resilience, solidarity, and selfless service," said Nandi-Ndaitwah who will be sworn in as president next month after winning last November's elections.

Kenya's President William Ruto called Nujoma a "selfless, courageous and visionary" leader.

I.Matar--SF-PST