Geingob is due in Botswana on Thursday 31st January, and visits the SADC Secretariat on Friday 1st February.
Namibian refugees’ spokesperson Felix Kakula said, in an interview, that they intend to use the opportunity provided by Geingob’s visit to petition SADC so that it can intervene and resolve the standoff between refugees and the Namibian government.
“We want SADC to facilitate a dialogue between us and Namibian government. We want to return home peacefully, but there are certain issues that need to be addressed,” he said.
The refugees demand that they can only return to Namibia if their government accepts them as members of the banned United Democratic Party led by its exiled leader Mishake Muyongo.
In a statement, the secretariat said the visit would enable the chairman to appreciate the work done in facilitating the SADC regional agenda, and to provide guidance on the secretariat’s implementation of SADC programmes.