By: Kelvin Chiringa
A cloud of silence hung over the presidency on Monday even as the dust continues to rise over the role President Hage Geingob allegedly played in the matter in which four Namibians were rounded up, interrogated and bought into silence.
This is after they reportedly looted more than N$60 million stolen from Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm furniture in South Africa.
Instead, Geingob has opted to open the week with a report on his interaction with investors at Davos, where he sold the Green Hydrogen idea to the international community of monied elite business people.
Dr Alfredo Hengari’s mobile phone continued to be unreachable. No statement came from State House on where Geingob stands amidst accusations that he assisted Ramaphosa in hunting down one of the alleged robbers in Namibia.
During the Davos report on Monday, Geingob said the courts should prove if he assisted Ramaphosa, as alleged.
“Let me just say, ever since I took office, I am in touch with about 14 Presidents. We don’t go through secretaries and so on. We just call each other.
In South Africa, there will be a court case maybe. Let’s see. It’s a criminal case. People were here. People were arrested. They were charged, paid and went back to South Africa. So I don’t know what favour I would have done anybody. It’s a big issue, it’s true. The case is going to be in the courts. Let them say how I helped.”
South Africa’s Ex-spy chief, Arthur Fraser, has claimed that a general was allowed to enter Namibia without being booked in and interrogated the suspect, bought his silence about the cash heist, and was able to leave the country, again, without being documented.
Questions have risen as to how millions of foreign currency ended up hidden in the furniture of Ramaphosa and how the general was allowed to carry out a task which ought to have been handled by the Namibian police.
With the National Assembly opening this Tuesday, the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) has said it would bring questions before the August House directed to the President.
“We as the NEFF are particularly concerned that a sitting Head of State and government has violated our sovereignty and allowed Ramaphosa’s secret agents to invade our country in order to abduct people who are involved in a serious crime.”
“We, therefore, demand that President Geingob must disclose all the interactions and actions he engaged in on the instruction of Ramaphosa with the sole aim and purpose of hiding criminal activity. We also demand that all law enforcement agencies must reveal all the intimation that is linked to the case of Ramaphosa’s money laundering, theft and bribery,” said the NEFF second in command, Kalimbo Ipumbu.
Ipumbu has also echoed that Geingob must take a sabbatical leave for a full-scale investigation to be launched into the matter.
The same is being demanded in the South African National Assembly by United Democratic Party’s Bantu Holomisa, who has said that the scandal has created international image damage for the country.
“Given the existing dynamics with the alleged involvement of the police and the State Security Agency, but in main that Parliament has a responsibility to make oversight of the executive, the UDM would suggest that President Ramaphosa take sabbatical leave, until mid-August 2022.”
“Then, that Parliament and the acting President may institute a preliminary investigation into the entire matter with terms of reference that would include if the South African Revenue Services and the Reserve Bank had any knowledge of the matter. Such a preliminary investigation could be conducted by two or three retired Constitutional Court judges, and their findings could be handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action.”
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) director, Graham Hopwood, conceded that it is not too late to question the silence from Geingob.
Hopwood has also said that Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga must also come out of his shell of silence on the matter.
Several calls to Ndeitunga have gone unanswered since Sunday the 5th of June 2022.
“The opposition can question what’s really been going on and seek answers possibly from the Prime Minister, but the President is not in the National Assembly, so it will have to be himself or the spokesperson of State House that can respond to these allegations.”
“It is quite disturbing what’s being said, although we know that there is a politicised atmosphere in South Africa. Obviously, people are out to get Ramaphosa and also the possibility that something has gone seriously wrong here, but Namibia’s involvement does sound like a can of worms and the sooner that State House offers a comment, even if it is a complete denial, the better,” said Hopwood.
