PDM, IPC clash over Ombudsman appointment

Kenya Kambowe



RUNDU

Leader of the official opposition, McHenry Venaani has condemned the Independent Patriots for Change’s (IPC) statement on his social media post over the appointment of the Ombudsman, saying that party is seeking attention.

The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) president - who has come under attack over the usage of the Otjiherero word ‘oviporoporo’, meaning ‘nonsense’, in regards to the process which saw President Hage Geingob appoint Basilius Dyakugha as the Ombudsman - said IPC as well as those heading a campaign claiming that he is a tribalist, regionalist and must apologise are seeking for relevance.

“First and foremost, I want to condemn the statement by IPC. It is an attention-seeking, relevance-seeking statement,” Venaani said.

In the statement, IPC Kavango East and Kavango West regional spokesperson Frans Kandjilu said: “As residents of the Kavango regions, we are perplexed by what has come from an official opposition leader - whose aim and goal is to take over government (supposedly) - as to whether his remark represents the words of a nationalist or a regionalist. This comes as a result of the ambiguity contained in his inconsiderate remarks”.

All this emanated from the presidency's announcement of Dyakugha’s appointment as Ombudsman.

Reacting to the appointment, Venaani last week tweeted: “We condemn the Judicial Service Commission’s recommendation and President Hage Geingob’s appointment of the least best candidate as Ombudsman. The public interviews clearly revealed who was the best. It shows merit is disregarded and that is very low of the appointing authority. Oviporoporo”.

The tweet was met with mixed reactions.

Some concurred with Venaani while others opposed his view, which saw some hurling insults at the national leader.

Not a tribalist

Venaani yesterday told Namibian Sun that he is not a tribalist, adding that he has openly and publicly talked about the exclusion of certain sections of society from key positions in government.

He said his tweet was about his observation of a flawed process that arrived at the appointment of Dyakugha, whom he considers the candidate who performed the worst during the public interview.

“The JSC opened the interviews to allow the public to be able to gauge for themselves who is the most competent person to become the Ombudsman of the republic, notwithstanding that the matrix of choosing a person does not only involve the part of the interview,” Venaani said.

“From the onset, the most relevant person was seen. So, how do you go now and put the person who was the [worst] performer and then you say this is the best person without explaining?

“What I questioned as oviporoporo is the process. The moment you say two journalists must go for an interview, you create an expectation that the best person gets the job.”

‘Mboma makes me cry’

“I have never been a tribalist and that is why I remained in PDM because of national inclination.

"Three days ago, in a tweet I congratulated Florentina Raquel Ndumbu, who is the new air wing commander who hails from Kavango. Was it a tribal congratulations? It was a national congratulation. She is a patriot.

“This girl Christine Mboma makes me cry every night when she runs. She comes from Kavango but when I praise her, I don’t praise a Kavango, I praise a national patriot who is bringing fame to our country,” the politician said.

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