The President of Namibia, Hage Geingobdied shortly after midnight last night at the age of 82, the Presidency confirmed this Sunday without detailing the causes of death, although two weeks ago it was made public that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

“The nation of Namibia has lost a distinguished servant of the people, an icon of the struggle for liberation, the main architect of our Constitution and the pillar of the house of Namibia,” he said in a statement released through the social network. X the until now vice president of the country, Nangolo Mbumba.

According to Mbumba, who will assume the Presidency on an interim basis until the general elections scheduled for 2024, Geingob died around 00:04 local time (22:04 GMT) this Sunday.

The president died accompanied by his wife, Monica Geingosand their children at the Lady Pohamba Hospital, in the country’s capital, Windhoekwhere he was receiving medical treatment.

“His medical team, as I informed the nation yesterday, has been doing everything possible to ensure the recovery of our president. Unfortunately, despite the team’s energetic efforts to save his life (…), President Geingob passed away “said Mbumba.

“In this moment of deep pain, I do an appeal to the nation to remain calm and serenity while the Government takes care of all the procedures, preparations and other necessary State protocols,” he added. Last night, the press officer of the Presidency, Alfredo Hengari, already confirmed that Geingob was in the hospital in critical but stable condition, according to local media picked up.

The announcement of his death came two weeks after, on January 19, it was made public that the president would begin treatment for cancer, after the discovery of “cancer cells” in a biopsy last January.

“As part of the regular annual medical check-ups, the Presidency informed the Namibian public that the head of state was due to undergo a colonoscopy and gastroscopy on January 8, 2024, followed by a biopsy, the results of which revealed cancer cells,” The Presidency then pointed out.

Born in 1941, Geingob was due to end his second and final term this year, after presiding over the country since 2015, after revealing in 2014, when he was prime minister, that he had survived prostate cancer. Namibia is among a third of Africa’s 54 sovereign states that will go to the polls during 2024 in presidential, legislative or local elections.