Still no closure for Lubowski family 34 years later

THIRTY-FOUR years after the assassination of Namibia’s liberation stalwart Anton Lubowski, his family says they are yet to find closure.

Lubowski, who was a prominent lawyer and Swapo member, was murdered on the evening of 12 September 1989, when he was shot with an AK-47 automatic rifle in front of his house in Windhoek. He was 37 years old

Speaking to Desert Radio yesterday, Lubowski’s son Almo Lubowski said his family was never able to ascertain what really led to his father’s slaying.

He said his father’s demise still remains an unresolved mystery and the family has made attempts to reach out to the ruling party and president Hage Geingob to piece together the parts of the puzzle, but to no avail.

“It is factually known that my father spoke to Geingob along Kaiser Street, now Independence Avenue, only hours before his assassination. We reached out to Geingob in attempts to establish what was discussed at that point in time but he has not given us the opportunity,” Almo said.

President’s Geingob’s press secretary asked for questions to emailed to him, but did not comment by the time of going to print.

A High Court inquest into the killing of Lubowski ended in 1994 with a finding that he had been murdered by a hit squad of a secret South African military organisation, the Civil Cooperation Bureau. Nobody has stood trial in Namibia in connection with the murder, though.

Information available to the family suggests that prior to his death, Lubowski was anxious and was trying to reach out to some of his close friends to discuss something that he came upon, which was seemingly bothering him, said Almo.

Four years ago, Lubowski’s former wife, Gabrielle Lubowski, was cautioned against defaming Geingob when she accused him of refusing to meet with her for nearly 30 years to discuss what transpired prior to his death.

Almo was, however, reluctant about delving deeper into an open letter written by his mother, saying she has since retracted her words.

He said the experience following his father’s death was difficult. Worse still was the overall treatment of the family by the ruling party, which he described as relatively cold at best.

“What we feel as a family is that even though my father died as a Swapo member the party has not done much to accommodate us generally.

“It is all about knowing and understanding why this had to happen so close to independence,” Almo said.

“It is rather a weird time to have been killed. There must be some more to it than a normal political assassination.”

Almo took issue with Geingob having been reluctant to meet him and his sister, in light of the camaraderie the president shared with their father.

“They were friends. So, why not just reach out as a friend? Not having closure is hurtful and it stays with you for a long time. Besides that, we had a lot to deal with prior to our father’s death already,” Almo said.

“I travel to Namibia to visit my grandmother from time to time and would love to come and spend more time here but [it often feels like] no door is open for us,” he said.

FREEDOM FIGHTER

Former Swapo secretary general Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana said Lubowski fought the injustices perpetrated against the Namibian people by apartheid South Africa.

“Anton volunteered to do what was not popular for the cluster of people and race that he came from.”

Although they were not close acquaintances, she saw him several times in London and in Namibia, she said.

“Anton was a dedicated freedom fighter. Being white, for him, did not change the way he perceived the importance of independence, as such he sacrificed knowing very well that what he was doing was unpopular among his race and class.

“He felt what the Afrikaners were doing, suppressing other races, was not right,” Iivula-Ithana said

Former Cabinet minister Helmut Angula said Lubowski’s death was a big blow to Swapo.

“He was very active, very forceful and knowledgeable of the Namibian situation. He was against apartheid and never wanted to admit that a white man must never associate with a black person.

“It was never easy for white members of the liberation movement, both in South Africa and Namibia. They tried to eliminate them. His death was a big blow to Swapo. We lost a leader of calibre.”