Namibia's deputy minister resigns over land comment
Xinhua, December 14, 2016 Adjust font size:
A lands deputy minister offered to resign from the Namibian government Tuesday over remarks he made on the way the lands minister was handling the resettlement process.
Bernardus Swartbooi called on President Hage Geingob to rein in lands minister Utoni Nujoma whom he said was not carrying out the resettlement program properly.
Swartbooi said Nujoma was resettling people from other regions in the south of the country where mostly Nama people live.
He made these comments on Dec. 4 when he addressed a traditional festival at Hoachanas, about 245 kilometers from Windhoek.
Geingob gave Swartbooi 24 hours to apologize to Nujoma, who is the son of the former president Sam Nujoma, on Dec. 6.
Swartbooi did not apologize but instead wrote to Geingob on Dec. 11 asking him to state the reasons why he should apologize and to whom he should direct that apology.
In a statement Tuesday, State House confirmed that Swartbooi refused to apologize and opted to resign instead during a meeting with Geingob.
The meeting was also attended by vice president Nickey Iyambo, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, and Presidential Affairs minister Frans Kapofi. Endit