Namibian President Hage Geingob died at the age of 82 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the capital, Windhoek.
Geingob, a veteran of the country’s independence struggle, was diagnosed with cancer and revealed the details to the public last month.
He died early on Sunday, and his wife and children were with him, Vice President Nangolo Mbumba announced, BBC reports.
Namibia has “lost…a distinguished servant of the people”, he said.
According to the constitution, Mbumba will now act as president since Geingob’s second term is less than a year away. Presidential and parliamentary elections were already scheduled for November.
The exact cause of the president’s death was not given, but he underwent a “two-day new treatment for cancerous cells” in the US last month before returning home on January 31, his office said.
Leaders from around the world are sending messages of condolence.
Among them is Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of neighboring South Africa, who described him as “a great veteran of the liberation of Namibia from colonialism and apartheid”.
Geingob was a long-time member of the Swapo party. He led the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, which effectively annexed the country then known as South West Africa.
He lived in exile for 27 years, spending time in Botswana, the US and the UK, where he earned a PhD in political science. He returned to Namibia in 1989, a year before the country gained independence.
