9 000 hours of non-travel for Geingob

OGONE TLHAGE WINDHOEKIt has been at least 376 days since President Hage Geingob has engaged in official international travel.From 1 February 2020 to date, converted into hours, this equals 9 024 hours that the president has not been able to travel, marking a departure from his travel schedule in 2019 when he visited 10 countries.The lack of travel also meant government saved at least N$101 million by September 2020, according to figures provided by the finance ministry.That is in sharp contrast to the N$116 million Geingob had run up in travel expenses in 2019 for the various foreign trips he undertook.Geingob’s last foreign trip was in January 2020, when he attended the inauguration of Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi. The president and other high-ranking officials have been unable to travel outside Namibia since March 2020 because of global coronavirus lockdowns.Chronology of travelMarking the start of his international trips in 2019, Geingob made his first trip to Gaborone, Botswana, in January to visit the Southern African Development Community (SADC) secretariat.In February, he travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in his capacity as SADC chairperson for a heads of government meeting. In March, he undertook a working visit to South Africa.April saw Geingob jetting to Cascais, Portugal, to attend the Horasis Global Summit. In May, he travelled to Pretoria, South Africa, for the inauguration of his counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.In June, Geingob attended the US-Africa Business Summit held in Maputo, Mozambique, while in July, he undertook visits to Rwanda and Niger respectively. The head of state travelled to Maputo, Mozambique, for a second time for the signing of the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement between president Nyusi and opposition party leader, Ossufo Momade, in August.Other international trips undertaken in 2019 include one to Yokohama, Japan, for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in August; a trip to Harare, Zimbabwe, for the funeral of that country’s former president Robert Mugabe in September, a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, to attend a World Economic Forum meeting, and a trip to Dar Es Salam, Tanzania, to attend the 39th Southern African Development Union heads of state summit.

9 000 hours of non-travel for Geingob

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Namibian Sun 2026-06-12

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9 000 hours of non-travel for Geingob

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Namibian Sun 2026-06-12

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