Nujoma led the
long fight for independence from South Africa in 1990 after helping found
Namibia's liberation movement known as the South West Peoples' Organisation
(Swapo) in the 1960s.
After
independence, Nujoma became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.
Nujoma had been
hospitalised over the past three weeks with an illness from which he
"could not recover", Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba said in a
statement announcing the death with "utmost sorrow and sadness".
He
"inspired us to rise to our feet and to become masters of this vast land
of our ancestors," President Mbumba said.
He added:
"Our founding father lived a long and consequential life during which he
exceptionally served the people of his beloved country."
Nujoma retired
as head of state in 2005, but continued to lead the party before stepping down
in 2007 as president of the ruling Swapo party after 47 years at the helm.
Many Namibians
have reacted to his death with sadness, fondly remembering him as "father
of the nation", says the BBC's Frauke Jensen in Namibia's capital,
Windhoek.
He is widely
credited for ensuring peace and stability after independence from South Africa,
which was then under white-minority rule, in 1990. BBC
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