I'm not Kalimbo's grandfather – Utoni

STAFF REPORTER

WINDHOEK



Labour minister Utoni Nujoma has dismissed claims that he shouted expletives at Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) MP Kalimbo Iipumbu in the National Assembly last week, apart from telling the opposition parliamentarian that he (Nujoma) is not his grandfather.

Iipumbu, the NEFF vice-president, was on Wednesday last week involved in a widely publicised scuffle with Swapo MP and former finance deputy minister Natangwe Iithete. Iipumbu said prior to that confrontation, he was involved in another one with Nujoma. Swapo seemed to have an orchestrated strategy to frustrate the opposition on the day, the NEFF man said.



'Voetsek'

“It started much earlier when I greeted Utoni Nujoma and he replied with a 'voetsek'. I told him that I respect him as an elder and that he was like a father to me. He went on insulting me and the police officers there said I must let it go.” Reacting to the allegations on Friday, an irate Nujoma admitted to telling Iipumbu that he was not his father but said that was all he had said to the opposition MP.

Asked why he reacted the way he did to Iipumbu, Nujoma said: “I don't know that man. He called me Tatekulu (grandfather/uncle) and I told him that I am not his Tatekulu. Why should he call me that?”

“It's a lie that I shouted 'voetsek' at him. I was not brought up like that. These people want to bring us down to their level of insults but we don't do that in Swapo. They insult people and later claim that they were insulted, like [LPM leader Bernadus] Swartbooi who lied that I insulted his mother. I could never do that.”

Parliament has had numerous confrontations in recent weeks, to the extent that LPM leaders were ejected from the chamber last week, while on Wednesday Speaker Peter Katjavivi had to adjourn proceedings after MPs became unruly.