Swapo youth league calls for expulsion of EU diplomats

The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) has issued a statement condemning European Union (EU) diplomats from Germany, Finland, France, Spain and Portugal and calling for their expulsion from Namibia.

This is in response to a meeting between EU diplomats and the leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) opposition party, Panduleni Itula, last week.

After strong criticism from the government and Swapo about the meeting, the EU explained in a joint statement that the continental group’s ambassadors did not discuss matters regarding government with Itula, but only discussed the IPC’s campaign for Namibia’s presidential and National Assembly elections in November.

However, SPYL secretary Ephraim Nekongo accused the diplomats of arrogance and disrespect in a statement on Sunday.

He rejected the apology issued by the EU and demanded an unconditional apology for what the SPYL perceives as interference in Namibia’s internal affairs.

“The former colonisers must understand that Namibia is forever free, sovereign and independent. We call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation under the leadership of minister Peya Mushelenga to declare any foreign missions’ representatives who seek to interfere in the internal affairs of our country as persona non grata, without compromise,” Nekongo said.

The meeting, held on Tuesday last week at the residence of German ambassador Thorsten Hutter in Windhoek, was criticised by Nekongo, who highlighted Germany’s historical role in the 1884 Berlin conference on colonialism in Africa.

He condemned Germany’s colonial actions, including atrocities and genocide committed in Namibia, which resulted in significant loss of life and land dispossession.

“Germany and many European nations who are responsible for the agony and oppression of many African nations are yet to pay reparations for its criminality, thuggery and robbery, committed in our country,” Nekongo stated.

“We are not naive; our people remain dispossessed of their ancestral land, and now live on the periphery of their own motherland. Germany has an eternal debt to Namibia and our patience should not be misconstrued for weakness,” he said.