This Dangerous Rumour Must Be Laid to Rest

A PARTICULARLY dangerous rumour has been circulating in Namibia in the run-up to the change of Government and official handover from incumbent President Sam Nujoma to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, on March 21 this year.

It is normal journalistic practice not to give substance to hearsay or gossip. However, because of the persistent and serious nature of a particular report doing the rounds, and involving an alleged plot against the new dispensation, The Namibian tried, insofar as was possible over the weekend, to establish if there was substance to the rumours.These reports have already spread fear and concern in many quarters across the country, and at all levels.It must be emphasised that in recent months, Namibia has been a hotbed of rumour-mongering and gossip and indeed witch-hunting.Much of this is undoubtedly because of the deep and open political divisions within the ruling party, as a result of the often vicious fallout after the three-candidate race for the Swapo Presidential nomination; and also undeniably as a result of the jockeying for positions in the new Government, either by currying favour or discrediting others.Fuelling the fires of distrust and enmity, among others, has been the anonymous e-mail campaign by a certain Ananias Nghifiteko.The current rumours, about which we do not want to be too specific, given that they might be being spread with malicious intent, do concern an issue which could endanger State security (and we do not use this term lightly).They must be publicly identified and dealt with if there is truth in the allegations; or thoroughly investigated and publicly revealed if they have been deliberately spread.Because we could not disregard the core rumour, The Namibian approached the Minister of Defence, Erkki Nghimtina, for a public statement on the matter.Minister Nghimtina assured us that Government and security agencies were acquainted with the rumour and ‘seized’ with the matter, and had already started investigations into what he described as the ‘source’ of this dangerous rumour.Steps had been taken to identify the source, he said, and the result of the investigation would be made public, given the importance of this matter.He also confirmed that if concrete evidence was found implicating the source of the rumour, legal steps would be taken against the person or persons responsible for them.We emphasise that charges of such a serious nature can in themselves have almost as much of a destabilising effect as the action itself.We would therefore call upon the authorities to ensure that the investigation is speedily conducted, and the public informed of the outcome because of the prolific nature of the hearsay.They must take care not to further inflame tensions or perpetuate witch-hunting in the process.Our peace and democracy are highly prized and we must guard them at all costs, especially during the transitional time that Namibia will be going through in the next few weeks during the commemoration of our Independence and the change of Government.It is particularly incumbent upon the ruling party, the outgoing and incoming Presidents, to ensure that if there are any such sinister plans, that the perpetrators be speedily apprehended; or if they are simply rumours, equally quickly put to rest.This week sees two important meetings: that of the Swapo Politburo and Central Committee respectively, and the question of inner party reconciliation has to be foremost on the agenda.The restoration of harmonious relations in the Swapo leadership as well as the rank and file, will go a long way towards putting destabilising rumours to rest.However, because of the persistent and serious nature of a particular report doing the rounds, and involving an alleged plot against the new dispensation, The Namibian tried, insofar as was possible over the weekend, to establish if there was substance to the rumours.These reports have already spread fear and concern in many quarters across the country, and at all levels.It must be emphasised that in recent months, Namibia has been a hotbed of rumour-mongering and gossip and indeed witch-hunting.Much of this is undoubtedly because of the deep and open political divisions within the ruling party, as a result of the often vicious fallout after the three-candidate race for the Swapo Presidential nomination; and also undeniably as a result of the jockeying for positions in the new Government, either by currying favour or discrediting others.Fuelling the fires of distrust and enmity, among others, has been the anonymous e-mail campaign by a certain Ananias Nghifiteko.The current rumours, about which we do not want to be too specific, given that they might be being spread with malicious intent, do concern an issue which could endanger State security (and we do not use this term lightly).They must be publicly identified and dealt with if there is truth in the allegations; or thoroughly investigated and publicly revealed if they have been deliberately spread.Because we could not disregard the core rumour, The Namibian approached the Minister of Defence, Erkki Nghimtina, for a public statement on the matter.Minister Nghimtina assured us that Government and security agencies were acquainted with the rumour and ‘seized’ with the matter, and had already started investigations into what he described as the ‘source’ of this dangerous rumour.Steps had been taken to identify the source, he said, and the result of the investigation would be made public, given the importance of this matter.He also confirmed that if concrete evidence was found implicating the source of the rumour, legal steps would be taken against the person or persons responsible for them.We emphasise that charges of such a serious nature can in themselves have almost as much of a destabilising effect as the action itself.We would therefore call upon the authorities to ensure that the investigation is speedily conducted, and the public informed of the outcome because of the prolific nature of the hearsay.They must take care not to further inflame tensions or perpetuate witch-hunting in the process.Our peace and democracy are highly prized and we must guard them at all costs, especially during the transitional time that Namibia will be going through in the next few weeks during the commemoration of our Independence and the change of Government.It is particularly incumbent upon the ruling party, the outgoing and incoming Presidents, to ensure that if there are any such sinister plans, that the perpetrators be speedily apprehended; or if they are simply rumours, equally quickly put to rest.This week sees two important meetings: that of the Swapo Politburo and Central Committee respectively, and the question of inner party reconciliation has to be foremost on the agenda.The restoration of harmonious relations in the Swapo leadership as well as the rank and file, will go a long way towards putting destabilising rumours to rest.