President Hage Geingob departed for Finland on Thursday for the state funeral of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.
The funeral is scheduled to take place tomorrow in the country’s capital, Helsinki. Ahtisaari died on 16 October at the age of 86.
In a statement released yesterday, Geingob said Ahtisaari will be remembered as a leading peacemaker who made outstanding contributions to the history of Namibia.
Ahtisaari was Finland’s ambassador to Tanzania, and was first appointed as a senator to the council of the United Nations Institute for Namibia in 1975.
The position later led to his appointment as a special representative of the secretary general to Namibia in 1978 by general Kurt Waldheim.
Furthermore, he was also appointed in 1989 to assume the challenging task as a leader of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group in Namibia, which was instrumental in the country’s transition to independence in 1990.
According to the statement, Ahtisaari’s various capacities birthed the Namibian Constitution, and Geingob worked closely with him.
“He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to world peace and outstanding international public service. He will be remembered by many as a friend of Namibia and her cause for freedom,” the statement reads.
Geingob will return on 12 November.
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