A Journey to Exile: The Story of a Namibian Freedom Fighter by Nathanael Keshii

A Journey to Exile: The Story of a Namibian Freedom Fighter by Nathanael Keshii

Author:Nathanael, Keshii [Nathanael, Keshii ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-25T00:00:00+00:00


6

Swapo’s Power Struggle

Confrontation with Sam

One of the ideas Sheeli and I hit upon to keep SYL’s members informed was to produce a monthly news-sheet with a summary of political developments in the sub-continent with the title ‘Southern Africa This Month’. In our November 1975 issue we focused on the developments in newly independent Angola, only to discover that it had greatly disturbed the National Executive Committee when they came across a copy of it. I quote the offending paragraph in full: In the popular press it is reported that Unita, the Chipenda-group of the FNLA, South African soldiers, as well as mercenaries belonging to the Portuguese Liberation Army (ELP) are advancing from the south towards Luanda. In the north FNLA, supported by the Americans, Zaireans and other imperialist forces, are making advances towards the capture of Luanda. For the first time the racist regime in South Africa has admitted to having its troops in the newly independent Angola. As to Namibia: the armed struggle remains the correct formulae; Angola – SYL’s sympathies go to the MPLA.

If up to that point we might have been tempted to believe that the Nujoma group had dismissed us as being of no significance, we were soon to discover that this was far from the case, and that they were in fact actively scheming to do away with us. We did hear some rumours – the source which we had come to rely on for information about what was going on in our own party in Lusaka – that we were not looked on favourably. Yet it was unsettling to have them confirmed, as happened at a reception that was held at Hage Geingob’s house soon after he arrived from New York to administer the Namibia Institute. Andreas Shipanga introduced us to the Zambian Foreign Minister Rupiah Banda. ‘I see! , ’ Banda said on being told my name, standing alongside Joe MuAshekele and Elia Kaukunga. ‘So you are the stubborn youngsters whom Sam Nujoma has asked our President to arrest and detain’? At this Geingob, who was standing nearby, showed signs of acute embarrassment but Banda continued, ‘Kaunda told Sam that we have the same problem with our youth in Zambia but we don’t arrest them. The youth usually only want things to go in the right direction because it is their future they are concerned with.’ Whether this instance of a mouth running loose was the cause of it we had no way to know, but a week later we read with interest that Foreign Minister Rupiah Banda had been dismissed from Kenneth Kaunda’s cabinet.

The second time we were alerted about moves that were being planned against us, we were able to seize the opportunity for a showdown that I, for one, had been longing for. When Sam Nujoma, who had been travelling abroad for most of the time since our September meeting, returned to Lusaka in early December he called a meeting of his trusted followers at his new home in Silenje West.



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