Businessman denies ties to new health minister amid controversy

Businessman Shapwa Kanyama says he has never met the newly appointed minister of health and social services, Esperance Luvindao.

In an interview with The Namibian yesterday,

Kanyama said he only knew of her when she was appointed as a minister.

“I don’t know the minister and I have never seen her, only on YouTube and Twitter. I only got to know her when she was appointed as a minister,” he said.

This comes after former first lady Monica Geingos on Monday dismissed allegations of Luvindao being a close associate (‘proxy’) of the former first lady.

Geingos also dismissed allegations of her having ties to Kanyama, who has been in the health industry for over 10 years.

Kanyama said he knows Geingos only as the former first lady, just like other Namibians.

“I know her as the first lady of Namibia. . . just like everyone,” he said.

He said the allegations are cheap politics and are meant to tarnish his name.

“People are fighting for positions, now they are putting my name on it. I have a feeling that it is my competitors playing the game to destroy me,” he said.

For years, Luvindao had stepped on stages in victory.

In 2022, she was honoured by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II with a Commonwealth Points of Light award for delivering free ‘online’ consultations to more than 44 000 patients from Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria and Rwanda since 2019.

Luvindao, who is one of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s eight appointees to the National Assembly, has been drawing public attention since this past weekend.

Yesterday, political leaders such as Republican Party president Henk Mudge and Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters deputy president Kalimbo Iipumbu urged president Nandi-Ndaitwah to review the appointment of medical doctor Luvindao as minister of health and social services.

The Popular Democratic Movement, however, defended the appointment, saying it was political and that the president made the right choice.