Namibia Elects Ex-Rebel Nujoma as Its 1st President : Africa: The U.N. secretary general will administer the oath of office when the terrority gains independence on March 21. De Klerk and Mandela are invited.

Sam Nujoma, a former guerrilla leader who spent 30 years in exile, was elected Namibia’s first president Friday and will take office when the territory wins independence from South Africa on March 21.

Nujoma, 60, helped found the South-West Africa People’s Organization in 1960 and led it through a 23-year guerrilla war against South African rule of Namibia, Africa’s last colony.

“On behalf of the Namibian people and myself, I want to express my sincere appreciation for the trust and honor you have bestowed upon me,” he told the 72-member Constituent Assembly after its unanimous vote.

“I call on all Namibians to remain united behind our government and work together for peace and stability,” he said.

U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar will swear Nujoma into office on Namibia’s independence day. Namibia’s South African administrator, Louis Pienaar, will remain in charge of the territory until then.

More than 20 heads of state are expected to attend the independence ceremonies. SWAPO leaders say they will invite both South African President Frederik W. de Klerk and recently released African National Congress leader Nelson R. Mandela.

Nujoma will serve for five years, then will be eligible for a second term. However, the constitution limits a president to two five-year terms, a rarity on a continent where most leaders serve for life.

South Africa, which has ruled Namibia since 1915, agreed to grant the territory independence under a regional peace accord signed in 1988 with Angola and Cuba. The accord provided for the phased withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, Namibia’s northern neighbor, where they were helping the Marxist government against UNITA rebels fighting with South African and U.S. support.

More than 6,000 U.N. military and civilian personnel have been monitoring the transition to independence, which began last April.

Former U.S. presidential candidate Jesse Jackson attended the Assembly session Friday and was allowed to speak to its members.

“I’m impressed by people civilized enough to agree and disagree,” Jackson told the assembly. “This is an example of how a democratic society can work when people move from polarization to coalition.”

Jackson, who completed an eight-day visit to South Africa on Thursday, said Namibia could become a “shining example” of democracy for South Africa.

Leftist SWAPO won 41 of the Assembly seats in elections last November; six other parties captured the remaining 31 spots.

Despite a hard-fought election and sharp ideological differences, the parties quickly worked out a democratic, Western-style constitution that was unanimously approved earlier this month. Also, Nujoma has named whites, businessmen and opposition party members to his Cabinet in a bid to heal the deep divisions caused by a war that lasted from 1966 until April, 1989.

Nujoma has little formal education, but is considered a shrewd, instinctive politician who has maintained leadership of his organization despite challenges over the years.

He helped found the Ovamboland People’s Organization, the forerunner to SWAPO, in the late 1950s. He went into exile in 1959 and was named president of newly formed SWAPO in 1960.

Under his leadership, the movement was recognized by the United Nations as the “sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people” although the territory had dozens of political parties.

In exile, he generally was portrayed as a Marxist but has sounded much more moderate since returning to Namibia in September. Even his political opponents have praised his efforts at reconciliation, and the transition to independence has gone much more smoothly than most observers expected.