Minister Iyambo takes issue with paper over shebeen allegations

AS the pressure mounts for Parliamentarians to play open cards about whether they own shebeens or not, Minister Abraham Iyambo was the first to step up to the plate, flatly denying that he owned one.

This follows him being named in a free community paper, Informante, as a shebeen owner. Iyambo told the National Assembly yesterday that the report had generated a lot of “excitement, insinuation and gossip”.He said his name had been tarnished and he had instructed his attorney to pursue legal steps against the paper for making the assertion.”I, Abraham Iyambo, the Minister currently responsible for fisheries do not have (not yet), never have been in these things of a shebeen or a liquor outlet,” he said.”The fabrication has caused me harm in the eye of the public.My name has been tarnished and thrown in the mud.”Outside the chambers, the number of shebeen owners in a week-long protest against the closure of their illegally operated businesses had dwindled to around 60.Iyambo said the shebeen issue had resulted in a lot of slander, defamation and character assassination against lawmakers.”I was the sheep on the altar to be slaughtered,” he said.Iyambo said it was not necessary to politicise the issue as Government had already pledged to evaluate the current situation.He said Government recognised that many people benefited from running shebeens and that it was important that lawmakers presented a unified front on the matter.Nudo’s Arnold Tjihuiko said he was against lawmakers who encouraged shebeen owners to break the law although he understood that the implementation of the act was cumbersome and shebeen owners would not find it easy to fill in the necessary forms.Minister of Presidential Affairs Albert Kawana postponed the debate until Tuesday.Minister of Trade and Industry Immanuel Ngatjizeko indicated to the House that he intended to speak on the matter again next week.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nahas Angula said shebeen owners camping outside Parliament should go home and give Government three weeks to reconsider the Liquor Act of 1998 and whether any amendments could be made to the law to benefit shebeen owners.Shebeen owners mostly from the country’s coastal and northern regions are outraged that Police shut down their operations and confiscated their goods for trading without the required documents.Iyambo told the National Assembly yesterday that the report had generated a lot of “excitement, insinuation and gossip”.He said his name had been tarnished and he had instructed his attorney to pursue legal steps against the paper for making the assertion.”I, Abraham Iyambo, the Minister currently responsible for fisheries do not have (not yet), never have been in these things of a shebeen or a liquor outlet,” he said.”The fabrication has caused me harm in the eye of the public.My name has been tarnished and thrown in the mud.”Outside the chambers, the number of shebeen owners in a week-long protest against the closure of their illegally operated businesses had dwindled to around 60.Iyambo said the shebeen issue had resulted in a lot of slander, defamation and character assassination against lawmakers.”I was the sheep on the altar to be slaughtered,” he said.Iyambo said it was not necessary to politicise the issue as Government had already pledged to evaluate the current situation.He said Government recognised that many people benefited from running shebeens and that it was important that lawmakers presented a unified front on the matter.Nudo’s Arnold Tjihuiko said he was against lawmakers who encouraged shebeen owners to break the law although he understood that the implementation of the act was cumbersome and shebeen owners would not find it easy to fill in the necessary forms.Minister of Presidential Affairs Albert Kawana postponed the debate until Tuesday.Minister of Trade and Industry Immanuel Ngatjizeko indicated to the House that he intended to speak on the matter again next week.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nahas Angula said shebeen owners camping outside Parliament should go home and give Government three weeks to reconsider the Liquor Act of 1998 and whether any amendments could be made to the law to benefit shebeen owners.Shebeen owners mostly from the country’s coastal and northern regions are outraged that Police shut down their operations and confiscated their goods for trading without the required documents.