Namibian rights group claim false — RB

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has said claims by Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) that about 20 Namibian freedom fighters died while he was Foreign Affairs minister in the first Republic are false.

The president said he was ready to step down if he participated in the death of the freedom fighters because his conscience would not have been clear to lead a country with such a background.

Mr Banda said the NGO was merely working to impress colonial masters and bringing the name of the government of Namibia into ridicule.

NSHR executive director Phil ya Nongoloh, alleged in The Post of yesterday that President Banda should help the organisation establish the fate of freedom fighters who disappeared without a trace on the Zambian soil.

“There is no such a thing and the allegations are totally false. These are the people who are working for the people who colonised us. They are always trying to bring up these matters,” Mr Banda said.

The NGO listed about 20 Namibian freedom fighters that allegedly disappeared when Mr Banda was Foreign Affairs minister during the UNIP era.

President Banda said the only crime SWAPO, the ruling Namibian party, committed in their mind was that the liberation party successfully fought for the freedom of Namibia.

The Namibian freedom fighters were said to have supported a peaceful change called the Détente Affair in southern Africa and fled to Zambia where they were killed.

Nangoloh claims that the Détente Affair also led to the expulsion of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) from the bases in south-western Zambia.

NSHR is a national private, independent, non-profit making and non-partisan human rights monitoring and advocacy organisation.

It was formed in 1989 by a group of concerned citizens and it envisages a world free of human right violations.

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[Times of Zambia]