Swapo rejects motion on Lubango victims

MEMBERS of the ruling Swapo Party yesterday rejected a motion which a member of the opposition had intended to table in the National Assembly to discuss the plight of former victims held in the dungeons of Lubango in southern Angola during the liberation struggle.

Hundreds of Swapo members in exile were alleged to be “spies” and were tortured and kept in underground prisons by their own cadres. Many died.Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo objected to the tabling of the motion by CoD Secretary general Kala Gertze, who was himself incarcerated at Lubango.Ekandjo was seconded by Prime Minister Nahas Angula, Deputy Labour Minister Petrus Ilonga and Swapo backbencher Peya Mushelenga.As the House was divided, Speaker Theo-Ben Gurirab asked members to vote.Thirteen of the 15 opposition members present rose, including Monitor Action Group’s sole MP, Jurie Viljoen, but the two Nudo members, one of them Herero Chief Kuaima Riruako, abstained.Thirty-nine Swapo MPs voted against Gertze’s motion, but Willem Konjore, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, caused something of a stir by abstaining from voting.The vote was witnessed about 20 former Lubango victims, who took up places in the visitors’ gallery.The Parliamentary office of Swapo issued an unsigned statement minutes after the motion was rejected, charging that CoD politician Gertze “wanted to turn the clock back”.”The principles on which the Namibian Constitution was based, categorically prohibited the unearthing of any action done prior to the entry into force of UN Security Council Resolution 435,” the statement from the office of the party’s Chief Whip, Ben Amathila, stated.”The Swapo Party and its government adopted at Independence the policy of reconciliation, cognisant of the fact that the war of national liberation was long and bitter – brother was pitted against brother, sister against sister.Many were caught in the cross-fire.Independence meant turning a new page – a page of peace through reconciliation,” the statement said.Giving an impromptu press conference immediately after his motion was rejected, Gertze said he had partly expected that the Swapo MPs would reject it.As he spoke, he was surrounded by a group of former Lubango victims and those who lost relatives at the hands of fellow Swapo members during the 1980s and 1990s.”Look into the faces of the people here today, they are the husbands, wives and parents of alleged “spies”, who lost their loved ones in Lubango or endured the sufferings there.I myself had to undergo years of counselling to deal with this,” Gertze told reporters.At that point two women in the group started crying, while others fought hard to hold back their tears.According to the CoD politician, the National Assembly missed a chance to listen to the concerns of the former victims, “but nearly 16 years after Independence, they (Swapo) are still not ready, I find this a provocation.They could have rejected the motion after I tabled it.”Gertze said he would now take the matter to international bodies like the International War Tribunal for criminal prosecution.In his unread speech, he had asked for acknowledgement of the Lubango issue, recognition of the victims and a ceremony, “a day of reconciliation as a symbolic signpost at which we can pause to say, I am sorry – bury at least the souls of our loved ones and overcome the trauma and grief”, Gertze said.When approached for comment on his abstention, Konjore replied, “This is a democracy.”DTA Vice President Philemon Moongo told this newspaper that he was shocked but that the reaction of the Swapo was to be expected.”They do not want to hear about the wrongs they did,” Moongo said.Many died.Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo objected to the tabling of the motion by CoD Secretary general Kala Gertze, who was himself incarcerated at Lubango.Ekandjo was seconded by Prime Minister Nahas Angula, Deputy Labour Minister Petrus Ilonga and Swapo backbencher Peya Mushelenga.As the House was divided, Speaker Theo-Ben Gurirab asked members to vote.Thirteen of the 15 opposition members present rose, including Monitor Action Group’s sole MP, Jurie Viljoen, but the two Nudo members, one of them Herero Chief Kuaima Riruako, abstained.Thirty-nine Swapo MPs voted against Gertze’s motion, but Willem Konjore, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, caused something of a stir by abstaining from voting.The vote was witnessed about 20 former Lubango victims, who took up places in the visitors’ gallery.The Parliamentary office of Swapo issued an unsigned statement minutes after the motion was rejected, charging that CoD politician Gertze “wanted to turn the clock back”.”The principles on which the Namibian Constitution was based, categorically prohibited the unearthing of any action done prior to the entry into force of UN Security Council Resolution 435,” the statement from the office of the party’s Chief Whip, Ben Amathila, stated.”The Swapo Party and its government adopted at Independence the policy of reconciliation, cognisant of the fact that the war of national liberation was long and bitter – brother was pitted against brother, sister against sister.Many were caught in the cross-fire.Independence meant turning a new page – a page of peace through reconciliation,” the statement said.Giving an impromptu press conference immediately after his motion was rejected, Gertze said he had partly expected that the Swapo MPs would reject it.As he spoke, he was surrounded by a group of former Lubango victims and those who lost relatives at the hands of fellow Swapo members during the 1980s and 1990s.”Look into the faces of the people here today, they are the husbands, wives and parents of alleged “spies”, who lost their loved ones in Lubango or endured the sufferings there.I myself had to undergo years of counselling to deal with this,” Gertze told reporters.At that point two women in the group started crying, while others fought hard to hold back their tears.According to the CoD politician, the National Assembly missed a chance to listen to the concerns of the former victims, “but nearly 16 years after Independence, they (Swapo) are still not ready, I find this a provocation.They could have rejected the motion after I tabled it.”Gertze said he would now take the matter to international bodies like the International War Tribunal for criminal prosecution.In his unread speech, he had asked for acknowledgement of the Lubango issue, recognition of the victims and a ceremony, “a day of reconciliation as a symbolic signpost at which we can pause to say, I am sorry – bury at least the souls of our loved ones and overcome the trauma and grief”, Gertze said.When approached for comment on his abstention, Konjore replied, “This is a democracy.”DTA Vice President Philemon Moongo told this newspaper that he was shocked but that the reaction of the Swapo was to be expected.”They do not want to hear about the wrongs they did,” Moongo said.