Namibia’s Vice President, Nangolo Mbumba has been sworn in as the nation’s President, just hours after he announced the death of his predecessor, Hage Geingob.
Gatekeepers News reports that Geingob, 82, died early on Sunday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in the capital, Windhoek. He had been diagnosed with cancer and revealed the details to the public last month.
The nation had lost a “liberation… icon”, Mbumba said.
He has since been sworn in as Geingob’s replacement and will serve in the role until elections due later this year.
“I am not going to be around for the elections so don’t panic,” he said at a swiftly arranged swearing-in ceremony at State House, just 15 hours after the death of the President.
Paying tribute to his predecessor, he said “our nation remains calm and stable owing to the leadership of President Geingob who was the chief architect of the constitution”.
“I take on this heavy mantle cognisant of the weight of responsibility.”
