Its livable area is sandwiched between the Namib Desert, the world’s oldest, on the Atlantic Ocean and the Kalahari Desert to the east. The new nation is a formidable territory, twice the size of California, that South Africans long considered their own Wild West. “Things may not change for me now, but they will change later on, for my children,” said Joseph Titus, a 23-year-old service station attendant who traveled half a day from the coast to be here for independence. In a 15-minute inaugural address, the white-bearded new leader also paid tribute to “the tens of thousands of Namibian patriots who lost their lives for this day.” “Africa’s last colony is from this hour liberated,” Nujoma shouted to cheers from the crowd of 20,000 black and white celebrants, some of whom had waited 12 hours in the Windhoek sports stadium to see the ceremony. “The whole world rejoices with you,” Perez de Cuellar said.Īn evening of heavy rain showers, always a good omen in African tradition, broke just before the ceremony, and Namibia became independent on a clear, starry morning. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who welcomed Namibia as the 160th member of the United Nations. Sam Nujoma, the rebel leader who returned last year after three decades in exile, was sworn in a few minutes after midnight as Namibia’s first president by U.N. May God lead you on a road of peace and prosperity.” “We extend a hand of friendship to our new neighbors. “The independence of Namibia marks the beginning of a new era for the whole of southern Africa,” De Klerk declared before South African soldiers lowered the flag. de Klerk, ending 75 years of often bloody colonial rule over this desert territory, ordered the lowering of his nation’s flag early today, and the new blue, red and green colors of Namibia were run up the flagpole, establishing the world’s newest nation.
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