Namibians urged to document history as Geingob’s political story is launched

Namibians have been encouraged to write more stories of their contribution to the country to add value and improve the lives of ordinary Namibians. 

These were the sentiments of president Nangolo Mbumba and National Assembly speaker Peter Katjavivi at the book launch of the late president Hage Geingob’s political story in a book titled ‘Whispers of Freedom – a political odyssey of Hage G Geingbo’, authored by executive director of information and communication technology Audrin Mathe. 

Mbumba congratulated Mathe for contributing to Namibia’s history by writing the book. He said stories of this kind help Namibians to learn from history. 

“All these accounts are valuable for documenting the journey of Namibia from pre-independence until present time. . . In this way, history will truly become our teacher as we learn lessons from it that will help us improve our lives and those of all the people in our society,” he said. 

The president also encouraged Namibians to familiarise themselves with Geingob’s story, emphasising that it is part of the Namibian story. 
“As such, it is not merely the story of one person but the story of all Namibians and their quest for freedom, independence and self-governance,” he noted. 

Similarly, Katjavivi told Namibians to document more of their life stories the way Mathe did with Geingob’s political career. 

“Writing and documenting is something that is extremely important. This will hopefully inform many people at home and abroad. We need to tell them about the true roots of our nation and our ambition as we confront the future,” he said. 

Also speaking at the launch, Katjavivi said reading the book forced him to look back on his own story, which was filled with moments with Geingob. 

Geingob’s bodyguard of 22 years, Johan Ndjaronguru, said it was important for those who are in close proximity with leaders to document critical moments shared. 

“I once told my family that if you look at the lives of our four presidents from the times they started this journey of setting Namibia on the path to freedom and you add up those years, it will give you a couple of centuries. That will give you wisdom and knowledge that you won’t find in universities,” he said.

“It’s up to all of us who have experienced Dr Geingob’s generosity, his leadership and the positive impact he had on so many to sit down and write about it. I’m probably thinking about that too, but that’s a topic for another day,” he added. 

At the launch, Mathe said the book took over ten years to complete. 

He said conversations with Geingob started in 2012, and plans had been made to start writing the book. 

“However, as often life does, time moves so quickly, it wasn’t until 2020 that conversations began in earnest. To his credit, he (Geingob) granted me full access to his life. I spent several hours at his residence,” he said. 

The executive director also said Geingob insisted the book be an account of Mathe’s experience of his political career. 

“He never attempted to influence my perspective or censor my findings,” he said. 

The book was officially launched by Mbumba two days after Namibians commemorated Geingob’s first death anniversary.