Leaked documents worry Govt

By: STAFF REPORTERS

INTOLERANCE is growing among Cabinet members and senior State House employees after recent stories in the media were based on ‘confidential’ documents.

The Namibian has it on good authority that Cabinet members and senior State House employees are growing disillusioned that ‘secret’ documents are being leaked and used to reveal discussions “prematurely”.
Yesterday, Works and Transport Minister Erkki Nghimtina did not hold back when approached by The Namibian to comment on a report submitted to him after an investigation was conducted at the Namibia Airports Company.
Instead of answering questions about the outcome of the investigation, Nghimtina wanted to know the source of the “stolen” document. He also charged that he had instructed the police to arrest whoever leaks confidential government information.
“There are some confidential things in this world of ours. We want to arrest somebody,” he said.
Several senior Cabinet employees and State House staff have also warned The Namibian to stop serialising secret Cabinet documents.
They have vowed “to use the available State machinery” to find out who is leaking the documents.
Their concern is that “premature” reports are published about documents that are still under discussion in Cabinet and that such stories are not in the interest of development.
One such recent story was the plan to erect a statue of former President Sam Nujoma in front of the new Independence Museum.
They argue that Cabinet still needs to consult the nation about the issue and that it was revealed prematurely.
Another example was when the Bank of Namibia replaced Hendrik Witbooi’s portrait on some banknotes with that of Nujoma.
No national consultation took place about the banknotes, though. The Bank of Namibia only conducted an awareness campaign after the notes were printed.

---