If I open up, you’ll all start crying – Mbumba when he bade farewell to State House staff

You think it’s easy? The remains of Dr Nujoma were on that plane. The family members of Dr Nujoma were on that plane. If something had happened, where were you going to put me? At my age, I no longer run – Mbumba

By Wonder Guchu

In every family, there is that unlikely person who ends up being the pillar of comfort and stability.

President Nangolo Mbumba is one such family member.

Somehow, Mbumba jokingly alluded to this when he bade State House staff goodbye on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

Mbumba leaves office on March 21, 2025, after serving the nation as president from February 4, 2024.

And he has a story to tell, albeit in a light-hearted manner.

So Mbumba remembers that, in 2017, he had promised his wife that when his tenure as the Swapo Party secretary general expired, he would come home forever.

“My darling, this is the last one. After this, it’s done.”

But no, it was not the last one because, in 2018, the late President Hage Geingob called on Mbumba to replace the former vice president and now-late Dr Nickey Iyambo.

Dr Iyambo, who died on May 19, 2019, was asked to step down because of poor health.

“Then one day, I got a call from an angry President because I couldn’t pick up my phone. He’d been calling all evening. I couldn’t pick it up,” Mbumba recalled.

He told the farewell party that he was furious when Geingob finally got him.

“What do you think you are doing?” Mbumba said Geingob asked him.
Mbumba said he was at a book launch with his wife when Geingob got him.

He said Geingob calmed down when he realised that Mbumba was also with former President Hifikepunye Pohamba and his wife.

When Mbumba attended the Cabinet meeting the next day, Sofia Shaningwa occupied the secretary general’s seat.

He found himself with nowhere to sit and stayed outside when Geingob announced that Mbumba would be the vice president.

“And I was locked outside,” Mbumba said.

The farewell party occurred in the banquet hall at State House, and Mbumba recalled being sworn in as vice president there.

“I was sworn in as president in this hall, basically up around here. I was never sworn in at the sports stadium – there was no time for those things,” he said about the 2024 event.

Jokingly, Mbumba said he would no longer have to come back to the hall.

Although Mbumba said he would never come back to the hall, he recalled receiving the Belvedere from Pohamba in that hall.

“He is the one who brought me in, in this hall,” Mbumba said.

Talking about the Founding President Sam Nujoma’s death, Mbumba said it was challenging to be the Namibian Defence Force commander in the most difficult situations.

“I had to come here, and they asked for permission to take the remains of Dr Nujoma to the regions.

“You think it’s easy? The remains of Dr Nujoma were on that plane. The family members of Dr Nujoma were on that plane.

“If something had happened, where were you going to put me? At my age, I no longer run,” he said.

Mbumba said going back to Zambia or Angola is out.

“So, the God who protects us and loves us, let Him continue to protect us,” Mbumba said.

According to Mbumba, being a servant of the Namibian people is enough for him.

“I don’t have many things to say, nor do I really want to open up. If I open up, you’ll all start crying, and I don’t want that,” he said.

Mbumba recounted how he was asked to take over from Geingob a day after he had announced the president’s death.

“We went to Cabinet,” he recounted, “Some of the ministers who knew things were even missing – rather than me insisting to become president, they were telling me that I had to become president.”

Mbumba said he told them to wait until Tuesday because it was a Sunday, but they said no because Mbumba did not have the mandate to act after the death of the person who had given him the mandate.

“That was a blow to me because we were friends for many, many years. I could speak on behalf of the Geingob family at family meetings – on the farm, in Otjiwarongo, or anywhere in Tsumeb, Grootfontein,” he recalled.

On the incoming president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Mbumba said: “Don’t give my sister a hard time,” referring to those who want to be appointed ministers.

But he added: “You still have six days to make up your minds.”

To the governors, Mbumba said: “Enjoy it while it lasts. And that’s why I am laughing. Don’t laugh. It applies to me, too. And that is why I’m laughing.”

His parting shot: “If there is something to eat or drink, enjoy it. I have enough police officers to take you home.

“If you came with your own car, but can’t drive, please just tell me. I will send my driver to take you home.”

Of course, Mbumba said he was not saying goodbye to anyone because he was still in Namibia.

“I’m staying in Namibia.”

*Wonder Guchu is the Namibia Future Media Holdings head of news

The post If I open up, you’ll all start crying – Mbumba when he bade farewell to State House staff first appeared on Future Media News.

The post If I open up, you’ll all start crying – Mbumba when he bade farewell to State House staff appeared first on Future Media News.