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Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - Web posted at 10:10:28 pm GMT

THE opposition Congress of Democrats (CoD) has accused Government of lying about the deployment of Namibia Defence Force (NDF) soldiers in southern Angola where they fought Unita rebels.

Senior military and Government officials, including Minister of Defence Erkki Nghimtina, have on more than one occasion denied that Namibian troops were stationed in Angola.

They said soldiers only crossed into Angola for "hot pursuit" operations against bandits who had carried out attacks inside Namibia.

But in recent weeks military commanders have been talking about the successful withdrawal of Namibian troops from Angola in the wake of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi's death.

Yesterday Nghimtina and Major General Martin Shalli both declined to comment on the CoD's observations.

On Monday, President Sam Nujoma welcomed the return of a battalion strength group of NDF soldiers who were apparently the "last" contingent in Angola.

Ignatius Shixwameni, CoD's Secretary General, yesterday said in a statement that while the opposition welcomed the Namibian troops back it was clear that the international community could no longer trust Government on military matters.

He said Government's denials that troops were stationed in Angola were issued both in the National Assembly and outside.

"They now admit that we were right and knew the truth that the NDF was all the time on Angolan soil. At last we now know the truth from the horse's mouth after vehement denials and unfounded baseless accusations against the CoD."

Ruling party legislators had accused the opposition party of "sowing confusion and spreading lies whilst they themselves kept misleading the nation that Namibian troops were only involved in hot-pursuit operations", he said.

"Is it not shameful that a Government that preaches openness, transparency and accountability to its people in its dealings can first keep on denying and lying to the nation and the international community?" he asked.

The CoD said it still wanted to know the human and material costs concerning the "secret NDF Angolan military operation".

It also wanted to know why parliamentary procedures were circumvented before the deployment.

When contacted for comment about the CoD statement, the Defence Minister said: "I have no comment on that one whatsoever."

Army Commander Major General Martin Shalli said "I have no comment to make," claiming, "they (CoD) want to politicise the whole issue."

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