The late Hage Gnengob has been hailed as a champion of democracy in Namibia. He is among the few people who were influential alongside the founding father on Namibia, Sam Nujoma.
Hage never move around with a large crowd of bodyguards. He would be seen interacting with citizens at the beach front taking selfies.
He loved soccer and supported the Brave Warriors and Liverpool.
Hage was born on 3rd August 1941 on a farm owned by Germans in Grootfontein district. He was a gifted student and a soccer player who was known as ‘Danger Point’.
In 1958 he joined Augustineum with intention of becoming a teacher. Soon he joined SWAPO and joined a protest to Windhoek to protest the quality of his education. As a result he was expelled from the school.
He was later readmitted to the school but the seed of politics had been sown in him.
EXILE
Hage traveled to Botswana to join other Namibians in exile who were agitating for Namibia’s independence. Upon arrival in exile he was named SWAPO’s representative to the Americas and United Nations.
He lead the arguments for Namibia’s independence at the United Nations. In 1975, Hage established UN Institute for Namibia in Lusaka. This institution was responsible for training Namibia’s future civil servants.
In 1989, Sam Nujoma nominated him as elections director for SWAPO for the ballot which was supervised by the United Nations.
In 1998, he organized for Michael Jackson to visit Windhoek. At many occasions he would be spotted at Music award ceremonies.
Hage left government in August 2002 when then President Sam Nujoma made an attempt to move him to Local Government portfolio from Prime Minister without any reason.
In 2014, Hage took 87% of the total votes cast. That was more than any of his predecessors. In 2019, he won elections with 56% of the votes.
Fishrot scandal and the collapse of SME Bank tainted his legacy as president after the first term.
Several ailments have bedeviled Hage including a brain surgery in 201. He later survived prostate cancer and he had a heart operation in the neighbouring South Africa in 2023.
Marriage
Hage was married three times. His current wife and widow is a businesswoman and lawyer. Her name is Monica Geingos. He was a father of Hage Ghengob Jnr, Nangula Ghengob and Dangos Geingos.
Green Hydrogen
He had outlined his ambitions for green hydrogen in Namibia. This he highlighted in his Harambee Development Plan. Now someone else has to work towards achieving that dream.
Fishrot Scandal
In 2019, Wikileaks published documents which indicated that government officials took bribes from Icelandic company in exchange for continued access to Namibia’s fishing grounds.
The fishrot scandal was the biggest issue that threatened Hage’s second term in office. This might have contributed to the drop in his share of votes from 87% in 2014 to 56% in 2019.
Hage Gneingob net worth
Dr. Hage Gnengob has an estimated net worth of $11 million. The president’s family has invested in livestock (150 heads of cattle), properties such as his farm near Tsumeb, residential house in Windhoek, gold, art collection, furniture, several interest bearing accounts with local banks, and jewellery among others. His wealth was amassed from his jobs such as at the United Nations since 1972 and head of UN Institute in Lusaka where he served for 14 years. He worked for World Bank for two years, served as Prime Minister for 12 years.
The president owned HG Consultancy which was valued at N$ 10 million. His wife the first lady owns more assets than him including uranium exploration, fishing, retail, media, manufacturing and property.
Sources: New Era
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