Windhoek (Namibia) - One of the last freedom heroes of post-colonial Africa is dead. Namibia's founding president Sam Nujoma died on Saturday at the age of 95.

This was announced by President Nangolo Mbumba (83) on national radio and on Facebook .

Nujoma had led the former German colony in southwest Africa to independence after decades of guerrilla warfare against the mandate power South Africa. At the celebrations on March 21, 1990, he was sworn in as the first president of the new state and was confirmed in office in 1994 and - following a constitutional amendment - in 1999.

Born on May 12, 1929 in the northern province of Ovamboland to a farming family, the politician had worked on the railroad after a short school education before being dismissed for union activities.

He then joined the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO), which was still Marxist at the time, and as its president he set up an exile headquarters in Tanzania in 1960. Nujoma, who often resorted to blustering rhetoric in public appearances, had, however, separated himself from Marxist ideologies early on and later established a functioning democracy.

Unlike his deceased former counterpart Robert Mugabe (†95) in neighboring Zimbabwe, he had made a dignified exit from politics. The former leader and independence hero, who had himself immortalized in a martial pose on the so-called Heroes' Field on the outskirts of the capital Windhoek, pursued a policy of national reconciliation.

His SWAPO remains the dominant political force in Namibia today, having won an absolute majority in the first elections under UN supervision.