Windhoek: Founding President Sam Nujoma died close to midnight in the Lady Pohamba Private Hospital in Windhoek on Saturday. The announcement of his death was made by President Nangolo Mbumba on NBC TV in the early hours of Sunday.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the 95-year-old Founding President was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago. Nujoma was born at Etunda in the Omusati Region on 12 May 1929. He led Swapo since its formation in 1960. After 29 years in exile, he returned to Namibia in September 1989 to lead Swapo to victory in the UN-supervised elections that paved the way for independence.

The Constituent Assembly, elected in November 1989, chose him as Namibia's first president, and he was sworn in on Independence Day, 21 March 1990. In Namibia's first presidential election in 1994, he won 74 per cent of the vote. Five years later, after the Constitution was changed to allow Nujoma to stand for a third term, his share of the vote increased to 77 per cent, slightly more than Swapo's popularity.

In March 2005, Nujoma, the president of Namibia since independence in 1990, retired as Head of State at the end of his third term in office. He is survived by his wife Kovambo Nujoma, two children, Uutoni and Sacky Nujoma, his grandchildren, and great grandchildren.