Amupanda accuses president of drinking during working hours

Affirmative Repositioning leader Job Amupanda has questioned prime minister Elijah Ngurare on why president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was served 10 glasses of wine during a diplomatic ceremony held at State House on Monday.

A total of 10 diplomats presented their credentials to the president, including the high commissioners of Kenya and Botswana, as well as ambassadors from Gabon, New Zealand, Georgia, Ireland, Tunisia, Mauritania, Vietnam and Guinea, with only the Kenyan and Botswana envoys resident in Namibia.

Amupanda asked prime minister Elijah Ngurare during the sitting of parliament on Tuesday: “After the names are read, they serve the president and the minister with wine glasses and they drink for the first diplomat. Then they go to the second diplomat and they give the president again a wine glass, she drinks. Then they go to the third diplomat and they give the president a wine glass and she drinks. It’s not fair to be giving alcohol to the president. Why is the president getting 10 wine glasses?”

Amupanda said there is no provision that allows the president to drink alcohol during office hours.

In response, prime minister Elijah Ngurare rejected the claim and said the matter was misrepresented.

“There is no way, at least in the manner in which he is describing it, that our president was being given a wine glass,” Ngurare said.

He said the ceremony followed established diplomatic decorum and noted that similar practices have been observed before.

“This is not the first time diplomats are accorded what was observed, and there is nothing in the Vienna Convention that suggests otherwise,” Ngurare said.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.