It’s silly to ask for presidential children’s Dubai flight tickets – Hengari

Presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari says calls for the Presidency to reveal the Dubai flight tickets of members of the presidential family who travelled there while president Hage Geingob and first lady Monica Geingos attended a climate summit are “silly”.

These calls came as commentators and critics asked for proof that the government did not pay for the family members’ travel and accommodation.

“That is silly. I think Namibians are not stupid. They voted for a leader and that vote is an expression of the trust in his leadership.

“The moment a leader is [elected], the correct assumption is that the Namibian people voted for you and as such he represents all Namibians, including those who did not vote for him,” Hengari says, adding that the questions of integrity and trust are thus embedded in those assumptions.

According to Hengari, it raises questions when a “Twitter warrior” says they want to see receipts, the whole media then finds this credible and joins in.

Hengari was speaking yesterday on Desert Radio, where he also said that it was frustrating to him that the media chose to report on this, rather than the proceedings at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) that took place from 30 November to 12 December.

He said the president and first lady are “busy with important matters, such as COP28 that affect the development of the Namibian people, while local media remain fixated on inconsequential stuff”.

“They did not write anything at all on the participation of president Geingob at COP28, but focused on that. But this is what we call serious newspapers in Namibia,” Hengari said.

The presidential family members who travelled to Dubai, and were included on the provisional list of delegates, included Kayla Elago, Nino Kalondo, Dangos Geingos and Nangula Geingos. This was along with the first lady’s brother, Salomo Kalondo. Namibia had 142 delegates on the provisional list.

While in Dubai, the Presidency released a statement noting: “The Namibian public and the media should rest assured that not a single cent of public funds has been spent on the children of the first couple.”

At the time, political analyst Henning Melber said there were many unanswered questions.

“They have stressed that they covered all expenses for their children, and that is okay, but we still require a closer forensic look,” Melber said.

“Did the four children travel on their own? Were the travel arrangements made privately? Who took care of these arrangements? Were all costs covered, not only travel, but also accommodation, food and any other services? Did they occupy seats in the presidential jet or were they flying on commercial planes?”

Analyst Rui Tyitende at the time said that proof of the flight tickets and accommodation payments should be provided. Hengari labelled the media reports frustrating and said he prefers “journalism that is focussed on what matters for the Namibian people and not on petty gossip”.

“The president is accountable to the Namibian people. When he entered office he and his wife, madam Monica Geingos opened their accounts in a gesture to reassure the people that taxpayers’ money will be expended in a manner that is frugal.”

He described the president as someone who focuses on the last cent and at times, spends his own money “on what is ordinarily supposed to be paid by the government”.

“That is the nature of the man. There is no way that president Geingob will use state resources to pay for his children to travel to Dubai,” Hengari maintained.
“At times, the media wants us to become a banana republic. That level of sensationalism is not good for our democracy.”

SLAP IN THE FACE

Former journalist and current research associate at the Institute for Public Policy Research Frederico Links referred to Hengari’s assertion that the media reports are petty as a slap in the face of Namibians struggling to make ends meet.

“Why not honestly account for the matter instead of turning on the media? To make this off as petty is to belittle what Namibians find important. They want a transparent leadership.”

Links added that Hengari’s anger at the media throws a veil of secrecy over the operations at the Presidency and stokes anger and frustration.