Attacking German ambassador same as attacking German head of state: CoD

A VERBAL attack by the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) on the German Ambassador to Namibia was shocking and Swapo should have called its youth to order, CoD Member of Parliament Nora Schimming-Chase said last week.

The SPYL accused German Ambassador Egon Kochanke of holding a meeting with some top Government officials and RDP leader Hidipo Hamutenya ‘to discuss strategies to cause national destruction and confusion’ in Namibia. During the Budget debate in the National Assembly on Friday, Schimming-Chase said: ‘A (verbal) attack on an accredited ambassador who represents his government is an attack on his head of state.’ ‘I attended that dinner last month with the German ambassador in honour of the visiting German Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs,’ the CoD politician said.’I am shocked to hear that the SPYL accused some who attended the dinner of anti-government activities and I am even more shocked that they demand the contents of the discussion at the dinner be made know to them. I am most shocked, however, that the Swapo leadership does not call the SPYL to order,’ Schimming-Chase said.Deputy Justice Minister Utoni Nujoma jumped up and told the CoD politician that ‘freedom of speech and expression is allowed in Namibia’.The Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy, Matthias Hansen, told The Namibian on Saturday that the dinner in question was a ‘routine event as is practised by diplomats around the world to meet different sectors of society’.Asked to comment on the SPYL accusation that the dinner in a Windhoek restaurant was used to discuss ‘strategies to cause national destruction’, Hansen said: ‘It is not necessary to comment, as I said it was a routine event in honour of our visiting Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary.’