1990 — Sam Nujoma Becomes Namibia's First President

On February 16, 1990, Namibia's National Assembly unanimously elected Sam Nujoma as the country's first president, five weeks before independence. The SWAPO founder had led nearly three decades of struggle against South African rule from exile.

On March 21, a free Namibia's flag rose over Windhoek's Independence Stadium. Nujoma served fifteen years and handed power over peacefully, a rare grace among liberation-era leaders. His election closed a long exile and opened a new state; his peaceful departure, years later, set a standard that many founders, elsewhere, never met. Fifteen years began that day with a unanimous vote, the whole assembly speaking with one voice for the man exile had made their leader.