He walked to the podium. Teeth glistening in the cameras' flashlights, the trademark smile acknowledging ululating women and deafening applause.
The aide-de-camp handed him his speech, but president Sam Nujoma hardly looked at the piece of paper.
Instead he joined in the momentum started by the more than 500 delegates to the third Swapo congress, who had been expecting him two hours earlier.
"History is made by people," he began.
"This man," he said, turning to Swapo secretary general Hifikepunye Pohamba.
The people shouted again.
"This man risked his life two times."
In the early 1960s Pohamba was "arrested by the Boers", and he was the first man to be flogged in public with makalani branches, Nujoma said.
In 1966 Nujoma and then acting vice president of Swapo, Mishake Muyongo, were to return to Namibia in defiance of the apartheid administration.
"When we arrived at Lusaka Airport, Muyongo claimed he had diarrhoea and couldn't travel," he said animatedly.
The crowd laughed.
But Pohamba decided to go with Nujoma.
They were arrested on arrival in Windhoek and deported.
"So, history is made by man. Twice he risked his life, but in the final analysis we have won," said Nujoma.
Another round of applause followed when Nujoma ended his short eulogy of Pohamba, the man he has picked to become the vice president of Swapo.
Many in the party believe the vice president will ultimately take over from Nujoma.
Delegates at this congress, the party's third in 10 years, are eagerly awaiting the voting for party posts and places on the central committee, which is due on Sunday.
The mood was upbeat yesterday morning.
Comrades shook hands and hugged.
With few exceptions, they were all identifiable by the blue, red and green colours of Swapo.
Some had scarves wrapped around their necks or draped around their shoulders.
Dresses, shirts, trousers, caps, badges - anything to show their party bona fides.
Security was tight. No cellphones were allowed in the hall.
But a few slipped past two security checks.
One of the phones rang out the tones of the well-known liberation song 'Sama ou li peni' as Nujoma spoke.
During the two hours that the delegates waited for Nujoma they sang and danced. The old and the young toyi-toyied.
Sweat dripped.
A battery of journalists happily clicked away.
One panicked because he had nearly run out of video tapes long before the official opening.
When Nujoma finally arrived and after apologies "for the delay" from deputy secretary general John Pandeni people cleared their throats to sing the Namibian, Organisation of African Unity and Swapo anthems.
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Nujoma made his statement.
Representatives of communist parties in Cuba, China, Korea, Vietnam, and organisations in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe were welcomed.
They said something too.
Also in attendance were diplomats, parastatal chiefs and ministry permanent secretaries.
It took the entire morning.
After lunch delegates filed back into the hall.
The remaining sessions until the end of the congress are closed.
The ululation and applause are expected to decrease considerably as delegates get down to the serious business of the conference.
- This article was first published in The Namibian on 22 August 2002.
