Presidency defends Nicanor appointment
Presidency defends Nicanor appointment

Presidency defends Nicanor appointment

State House has lashed out at sections of the media that had cast aspersions on the former deputy minister's re-appointment, which was leaked recently.
Staff Reporter
The presidency has defended President Hage Geingob's decision to appoint Swapo spokesperson Hilma Nicanor as special advisor in the office of the vice-president as necessary to carry the mandate of the veterans' affairs portfolio.

Nicanor was among 18 Swapo officials who needed to resign from their jobs under Article 47 of the Namibian constitution upon acceptance of nomination for the National Assembly election.

The veterans' affairs portfolio is headed at the level of a deputy minister, and with the incumbent resigning, the directorate was left without a substantive political head.

This, said presidential press secretary Alfredo Hengari, necessitated Nicanor's appointment “to ensure continuity and effective implementation of programmes in that ministry.”

“The facts speak for themselves. Not all the 18 members of the Swapo Party who resigned from their jobs to remain as candidates for the National Assembly were given jobs as advisors. Only one,” said Hengari, himself an advisor in the presidency.

Geingob was accused of cronyism for appointing Nicanor for a period of five months while preaching the need to contain costs in the bloated public service.

But Hengari hit back by stating that veterans' affairs had been led at deputy minister's level exactly for the purpose of cutting the wage bill.

“We all have to be reminded that Namibia exists for the people, and the president elected through direct universal suffrage is the perfect embodiment of their will and wisdom, irrespective of the fact that we may sit in the 13% that did not vote for him in 2014,” said Hengari.

“This places a greater obligation on any newsroom in a democracy to respect the will of the people by putting on public record the great deeds and feats of an elected president,” he added, as he took a shot at how the Nicanor appointment had been reported in the media.

“A free press and free speech are foundational values of our republic – and they came at great cost. This places a greater responsibility on the media and the press not to function as propaganda passed off as news, activated against a democratically elected president,” Hengari said.

STAFF REPORTER

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-28

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 212.71/OZ UP +1.00% | Copper US$ 3.98/lb DOWN -0.0023 | Zinc US$ 2 448.60/T DOWN -0.33% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.15/BBP UP +0.88% | Platinum US$ 902.18/OZ UP +0.82% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 37° Rundu: 17° | 33° Eenhana: 18° | 33° Oshakati: 20° | 31° Ruacana: 19° | 33° Tsumeb: 17° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 28° Omaruru: 18° | 31° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Gobabis: 17° | 28° Henties Bay: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 10:54, High tide: 04:57, Low Tide: 22:58, High tide: 17:16 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 29km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:55, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:14 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 33km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 10:52, High tide: 04:54, Low Tide: 22:56, High tide: 17:13 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 22° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 34° Aranos: 21° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 23° | 34° Oranjemund: 15° | 21° Luanda: 27° | 30° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 24° Mbabane: 15° | 23° Maseru: 12° | 28° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 29° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 28° Cape Town: 17° | 23° Durban: 21° | 25° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 18° | 30° Harare: 15° | 31° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.93 | EUR to NAD 20.49 | CNY to NAD 2.63 | USD to NAD 18.99 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.8 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.1 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.3 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.99 | USD to ZMW 24.97 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 73909.5 Up +0.41% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1516.02 Down -0.13% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12981.98 Up +0.34% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 28224.37 Down -2.87% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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