Geingos thanks world for support after president’s death

Former first lady Monica Geingos says she and the children of president Hage Geingob have been deeply moved by the manner in which the world mourned Geingob after his death three months ago.

Geingos said this on Saturday in a statement in which she expressed gratitude for the kindness shown to her family. Geingob died on 4 February.

Geingos said in her statement: “Losing a loved life partner is extraordinarily painful on its own. Losing a loved one to a cancer as brutal as pancreatic cancer is unimaginably sore.”

She added: “The outpouring of love and messages from all over the world bore testament to Hage’s influence and mirrors his emotional generosity.”

She continued: “There are no words to thank all of you for the flowers, gifts, visits, messages, prayers, compassion and the love that you have shown.”

She noted that Geingob’s death was a collective loss and recognised that mourning him is not an individual experience.

“Grief has no timeline and shapes a person’s thoughts and reactions in a significant manner. I have accepted this. In trying to get back to some form of ‘normal’ routine, I have realised that I’m not sure what ‘normal’ means,” she added.

She also said she would focus on finalising her outstanding advocacy commitments, managing the administrative transition of her office to the new first lady, and scaling up her youth development work at her foundation, One Economy, and various non-profit organisations that she serves.

“As someone who has been personally affected by the loss of a loved one to cancer, I am considering expanding my previous focus on women’s reproductive cancers to cancer prevention and care in general,” Geingos said.

She resumed work on 6 May, and noted that her commitments will be limited as she is still adjusting to life without her husband and best friend.

“Thank you for walking this difficult journey with my family and I. May Hage’s memory live in our hearts forever. God bless him and all of us,” she concluded.