Dealing with war generals

Yesterday this newspaper reported about a case in which General Francois Olenga, the chief of the DRC army, is fighting tooth and nail to recover N$9 million he had intended to develop his Swakopmund property with. Olenga revealed in papers filed in the High Court that he owns two erven at the Namibian coastal resort town. This comes at a time when the ruling Swapo Party resolved on one of its key platforms that no land should be sold to foreigners anymore, until the land crisis facing Namibians has stabilised. Of course, there is great belief that Olenga got his erven before such a declaration was made by the ruling party. And even if it was after that call was made, there is no law at the moment barring foreigners from owning property in Namibia. What raised our suspicion about this developing saga is not the fact that Olenga owns property in Namibia, because quite truthfully, foreigners own a substantial part of this country. But the amount of money being cited raises questions of accountability, and our dealings with the DRC, as Namibia. N$9 million for an army chief of a country battling plundering and looting, is an amount of suspicious proportions. Maybe Olenga is a credible and accountable person, but until we satisfy ourselves with facts, there would be room for discontent and suspicion. Namibia is currently home to controversial fugitives, who are not in the country to seek asylum, but to hide away from prosecution in their countries of origin. We are a safe haven for suspicious characters, because our vetting and screening processes are probably too weak. We would restrain ourselves not to cast blatant aspersions over Olenga&rsquo;s character, but when an army general of a war-torn country has so much money to buy expensive property in an expensive country like Namibia, questions will be asked - naturally. Namibia had soldiers sent to DRC to fight along the same men that are currently under Olenga&rsquo;s command. Would Olenga have had acquired property in Namibia had this country not sent troops to Congo? These are some of the fundamental questions that we need to start throwing around this mindboggling state of affairs. The implications, in the event that this was dirty money, could be far-reaching for our country. Yet we all have an obligation as Namibians to protect the integrity of our nation at all costs, and in the eyes of the world.

Dealing with war generals

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-05

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Dealing with war generals

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-05

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