Political activists have lambasted the national leadership and various politicians for sympathizing with the protestors in the murder of African-American George Floyd.
Floyd died after he was pinned down under the knee of a White police officer in Minneapolis, USA, prompting waves of protests that went global, led by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Various countries have so far issued statements of condemnation while in Zimbabwe; the police had to stand in the way of a planned demonstration by Zanu PF enthusiasts.
In South Africa, protestors under the banner of Black Lives Matter also staged a demonstration against racisms and police brutality, calling for international condemnation of the oppression of the black minority in the USA.
In Britain, protests also flared up with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he mourned the death of Floyd and spoke out against racism without necessarily castigating Donald Trump.
The two are a long time political allies.
However, activist Dimbulukeni Nauyoma from the left-wing political-activist movement, Affirmative Repositioning, slammed the national leadership for “sucking to white capital”.
This is after the international relations ministry issued a statement of condemnation.
Nauyoma said the police brutality that manifested in this instance was playing out here in Namibia and accused government of hypocrisy.
“You have seen the video of the woman who was abused by the police a few days ago. There is a young girl who is a child of the liberation struggle who was shot in daylight at Swapo Head Quarters. And the same government that issued a statement a few days ago has neither responded nor given that family support as it relates to her death.
There was a fellow Zimbabwean who was a taxi driver and he was shot by Desert Kalahari officers. A young man by the name Kalola was shot in broad daylight and the purported excuse was that he was a wanted criminal. So if you are a wanted criminal, does it warrant your death?” said Nauyoma.
Radical activist, Benedict Louw has also condemned Namibia for backing up anti-police brutality protests in the USA saying that the country was mired in its own troubles of the same nature.
He said this was due to “self-hate” that the police have been implicated in the deaths of native Namibians.
“We have seen one of our Zimbabwean brothers being brutally murdered by the police from the Desert Kalahari operation. So it speaks to you about self-hate,” said Louw.
Meanwhile, the death of Floyd has also been mentioned in a lengthy speech in parliament during a debate of the budget by the leader of the Christian Democratic Voice, Gothard Kandume.
