Namibia’s President Hage Geingob has died aged 82.

Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba announced Mr Geingob’s death in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“At his side was his dear wife Madame Monica Geingos and his children,” Mr Mbumba said in a statement.

He had been diagnosed with cancer and publicly revealed his diagnosis last month.

His office announced he would be travelling to the US for treatment, but would return to Namibia on 2 February.

Mr Geingob became president in 2015 and was serving his second and final term in office.

He underwent an aortic operation last year, and in 2014 he revealed that he had survived prostate cancer.

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Born in 1941, Mr Geingob was a prominent politician before Namibia achieved independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

He chaired the body that drafted the country’s constitution, then became its first prime minister at independence on March 21 of that year, a position he retained until 2002.

Namibia is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in November.

The governing party, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), which has been in power since Namibia gained independence, has chosen Mrs Nandi-Ndaitwah as its presidential candidate.

She is currently also Namibia’s deputy prime minister, and will become the country’s first female president if she wins.

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