President Hage Geingob’s countrywide visit, the tussle over a multimillion-dollar fishing vessel and military allegations about political attack grabbed headlines in the Namibian press on Thursday.
The Namibian Sun speculated that there was an ulterior motive behind Geingob’s countrywide town hall meetings.
The paper alleged that the meetings, which the government says are meant for the president to engage the citizen over issues of concern and assess the effects of a crippling drought, are, in fact, part of an election campaign by the leader of the ruling SWAPO party.
Citing a confidential letter, the daily said Geingob had also been meeting with SWAPO’s regional leaders in all the country’s 14 regions.
The state-run New Era however reported that the tour by Geingob was about a “concerned father monitoring the wellbeing of his children”.
In the Confidente, Defence Minister Penda ya Ndakolo claimed that the recent public criticism levelled against the Namibian Defence Force is politically motivated.
The military was fiercely criticised after recent media reports of soldiers assaulting farmers desperate for grazing their drought-stricken livestock near a farm owned by the military.
The minister claimed that the verbal attacks were being perpetrated by individuals trying to incite public hatred against the military.
Ya Ndakolo also censured opposition Popular Democratic Movement leader McHenry Venaani for visiting the area where the incident happened without his authorisation and warned him never to do it again.
Two Namibian fishing companies have approached the Windhoek High Court to block their Icelandic partners from selling a fishing vessel worth N$400 million (about US$28 million) that they jointly own.
The Namibian reported that Sinco Fishing and Epango Fishing have applied for an order to stop an Iceland fishing group Samherji HF from winding up the Arcticnam joint venture that has been fishing in the Namibian waters since 2013.
The vessel in question was bought by the Icelanders but the Namibian firms bought 45 percent of the vessel at a cost of N$140 million.
They want the court to halt the sale pending a forensic investigation into the finances and businesses operations of the companies.
AT/jn/APA