{"id":28374,"date":"2022-08-24T10:58:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T10:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt"},"modified":"2022-08-24T11:07:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T11:07:57","slug":"heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt","title":{"rendered":"Heroes\u2019 Day venue not political \u2013 Govt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Government yesterday insisted Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration, billed for Mariental in the Hardap region this weekend, has nothing to do with politicking.<\/p>\n

This comes after Landless People\u2019s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi accused the Swapo-led government of using the Hardap commemoration to regain its foothold in the region.<\/p>\n

LPM currently dominates the Hardap regional council with seven seats, while Swapo holds one seat. Swartbooi yesterday told journalists his party was planning a parallel event to commemorate the \u201creal heroes of Namibia\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration is a Swapo rally. It lacks content that appeals to us. It is a rally in which Swapo wants to reclaim the southern vote \u2013 something they will never be able to do,\u201d said Swartbooi.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile they are trying to fight to get the southern vote, we will get the northern vote and get them out of power before they realise it,\u201d said Swartbooi.<\/p>\n

Information minister Peya Mushelenga said Heroes\u2019 Day is a national day in which Namibians commemorate the heroic contribution and sacrifices made by Namibians to the cause of independence and nation-building.<\/p>\n

Over the past years, Mushelenga said, celebrations and commemorations of two national days, namely Independence Day and Heroes\u2019 Day, have been held in different regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, the fact that Heroes\u2019 Day is taking place in Hardap region this year has nothing to do with politicking. The battlefront of political parties is the electoral playing field. For now, as a nation, we give a well-deserved honour to our heroes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He called on all patriotic and peace-loving Namibians to attend the commemoration, which will be addressed by President Hage Geingob in Mariental on Friday, and shun attempts to divide the Namibian nation.<\/p>\n

Swartbooi said his party has asked its leadership to do what they have to do to celebrate real heroes, such as the late chief of the Kai-||Khaun Nama tribe Petrus Simon Kooper, whom, he said, stood firm in fighting what matters to the community until his last breath.<\/p>\n

He said his party will also recognise the likes of former education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, who, according to him, contributed immensely to the country\u2019s education system.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at some of the ministers who were granted very important accolades. Ministers who have no idea what they are supposed to do in their portfolios are also regarded as heroes in this country. How sad we are, as Namibians, that Heroes\u2019 Day becomes a political gimmick as Swapo tries to be relevant to Namibians. So, we are not going to be part of that nonsense; it is not a national event \u2013 it is a national disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, executive director in the information ministry Audrin Mathe last week clashed with Hardap regional council chairperson Gerson Dausab after he questioned the council\u2019s decision to restrain public servants from serving on committees tasked with coordinating Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration.<\/p>\n

This follows Dausab\u2019s notification to acting Hardap chief regional officer Julian Engelbrecht that he had not received any communication regarding the planned Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration.<\/p>\n

In a letter, dated 15 August, Dausab told Engelbrecht no employees of the council should partake in organising the said event.<\/p>\n

In a late-night media statement on Saturday, Mathe accused Dausab of sabotaging the event by allegedly restraining public servants from serving on committees tasked with coordinating the event at the regional level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with deep regret that the Hardap regional council has restrained public servants from serving on committees tasked with coordinating events at the regional level,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn observing the hierarchy of norms, the directions of President Hage Geingob to host the Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration in Mariental will be fully implemented with or without the Hardap regional council\u2019s participation,\u201d Mathe said.<\/p>\n

He went on to say Namibia was founded on the idea of a unitary state, which is a constitutional requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government will have zero visibility of any attempts to sabotage the commemoration,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

LPM deputy leader Henny Seibeb recently told New Era they are unhappy that secretary to Cabinet George Simataa first wrote to Hardap governor Salomon April to inform him about the region\u2019s hosting of Heroes\u2019 Day remembrance, conveniently \u201comitting\u201d to inform Dausab.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe omitted Dausab because his party is essentially LPM, contrary to President Geingob\u2019s assertions that \u2018nobody should be left out\u2019 and \u2018no exclusivity\u2019 calls,\u201d Seibeb said.<\/p>\n

Simataa, in a letter dated 16 August, wrote to Dausab, apologising for the omission, saying he regrets the error of not having directly engaged him.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Government yesterday insisted Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration, billed for Mariental in the Hardap region this weekend, has nothing to do with politicking. This comes after Landless People\u2019s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi accused the Swapo-led government of using the Hardap commemoration to regain its foothold in the region. LPM currently dominates the Hardap regional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-28374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nHeroes\u2019 Day venue not political \u2013 Govt - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Government yesterday insisted Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration, billed for Mariental in the Hardap region this weekend, has not ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heroes\u2019 Day venue not political \u2013 Govt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Government yesterday insisted Heroes\u2019 Day commemoration, billed for Mariental in the Hardap region this weekend, has not ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-24T10:58:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-24T11:07:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_13-630606788c73b.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"545\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Heroes\u2019 Day venue not political \u2013 Govt\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-24T10:58:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-24T11:07:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt\"},\"wordCount\":760,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_13-630606788c73b.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/heroes-day-venue-not-political-govt\",\"name\":\"Heroes\u2019 Day venue not political \u2013 Govt - 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