Geingob marriage on rocks

WHAT began on a joyous note one Saturday afternoon in September 1993, when Hage Geingob, the debonair Prime Minister of the still newly-independent Namibia, staked his claim to wedded bliss by marrying 37-year-old businesswoman Loini Kandume in Windhoek, is about to end in the divorce court.

Back then the beaming bride and groom were both dressed in white for the ceremony in which they exchanged marriage vows in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court. Formalities completed, the just-married couple and hundreds of guests, including longtime political comrades like then-President Sam Nujoma and Geingob’s best man, then-Minister Hidipo Hamutenya, celebrated into the night at Geingob’s estate, Casa Rosalia, outside Windhoek as the couple embarked on what was meant to be a long and happy life together.At the time, it was described as Namibia’s wedding of the year, if not the decade.But things happen in life, and yesterday an appearance by Dr Gein­gob, now Minister of Trade and Industry, in the High Court in Windhoek spelled the beginning of the end of an almost 15-year-long marriage.Geingob, dressed in a black suit for an occasion much more sombre than his wedding, appeared before Judge Louis Muller as the plaintiff in a divorce action against Mrs Geingos.Neither Mrs Geingos, who counter-sued Geingob after he instituted divorce proceedings against her in May 2006, nor any lawyer representing her, were present in court for the hearing, which had been set down for three days.In the end it took barely a quarter of an hour before Geingob and his legal representatives, Anna-Marie Engelbrecht and Elize Yssel, could leave the court with a provisional divorce order in the bag.Documents filed with the court indicate that Mrs Geingos’s legal representative, Ilse Agenbach, withdrew as her lawyer on May 29.According to a letter from Agenbach to Mrs Geingos this was after Mrs Geingos had indicated to her office that she would not be providing Agenbach with any further instructions in the matter and that she also would not be taking any further phone calls from the lawyer’s office.Geingob told Judge Muller that he and his wife were married out of community of property on September 11 1993.Two children – a daughter, now 13 years old, and a son, now nine years old – were born from the marriage.Geingob told the Judge that he wants the court to award joint custody of the children to him and Mrs Geingos.”I would like the children to feel that they are not deprived of their mother,” he said.When Engelbrecht asked him what went wrong in the marriage, Geingob started off by telling the Judge that it had been a high-profile marriage to start with.He said he was the Prime Minister at the time and was very busy, with the result that he did not pay much attention to initial problems in his marriage.There were “disagreements and insults”, but he did not pay too much attention to these, he said.However, when he left office his situation at home got worse, and instead of getting support from his wife, he was attacked and asked why he did not accept “the other offer”, Geingob testified.Geingob left Government on August 27 2002, after serving as Prime Minister for close to 12 and a half years.He resigned from Government after former President Nujoma decided to remove him from his position as Prime Minister and offered him the post of Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing instead.Geingob did not accept the offer.In his testimony yesterday he told Judge Muller that he had the impression that his wife had married his position rather than him.ACCUSATIONS In the divorce papers filed with the court Geingob and Mrs Geingob traded accusations and counter-accusations of assaults, insults, alcohol abuse, and a lack of love, commitment and common interests as having led to the breakdown of their marriage.Only Geingob provided details, though.He said that he and Mrs Geingob shared no common interests.His “lie in reading, watching movies and sport”.Mrs Geingob’s interests, he stated, “lie mainly in gossip”.According to Geingob his wife assaulted him at their home in April 2005, when she, “brandishing a firearm”, allegedly threatened she would shoot him.She then proceeded to fire several shots into the bonnet of his car, he stated.He further claimed that she again assaulted him the following day at their home by hitting him from behind with a bowl.Mrs Geingos flatly denied these claims.She in turn accused Geingob of having had extra-marital affairs with other women.She did not provide any further details, though.Judge Muller granted Geingob a provisional divorce order, with the case set to return to court on September 1.He also asked that a welfare report should be compiled in the meantime to assist the court with its decision on who should be awarded the custody and control of the couple’s children.Geingob offered to pay for the two children’s medical and educational expenses, and also to pay N$5 000 a month towards the maintenance of the children.Formalities completed, the just-married couple and hundreds of guests, including longtime political comrades like then-President Sam Nujoma and Geingob’s best man, then-Minister Hidipo Hamutenya, celebrated into the night at Geingob’s estate, Casa Rosalia, outside Windhoek as the couple embarked on what was meant to be a long and happy life together.At the time, it was described as Namibia’s wedding of the year, if not the decade.But things happen in life, and yesterday an appearance by Dr Gein­gob, now Minister of Trade and Industry, in the High Court in Windhoek spelled the beginning of the end of an almost 15-year-long marriage.Geingob, dressed in a black suit for an occasion much more sombre than his wedding, appeared before Judge Louis Muller as the plaintiff in a divorce action against Mrs Geingos.Neither Mrs Geingos, who counter-sued Geingob after he instituted divorce proceedings against her in May 2006, nor any lawyer representing her, were present in court for the hearing, which had been set down for three days.In the end it took barely a quarter of an hour before Geingob and his legal representatives, Anna-Marie Engelbrecht and Elize Yssel, could leave the court with a provisional divorce order in the bag.Documents filed with the court indicate that Mrs Geingos’s legal representative, Ilse Agenbach, withdrew as her lawyer on May 29.According to a letter from Agenbach to Mrs Geingos this was after Mrs Geingos had indicated to her office that she would not be providing Agenbach with any further instructions in the matter and that she also would not be taking any further phone calls from the lawyer’s office.Geingob told Judge Muller that he and his wife were married out of community of property on September 11 1993.Two children – a daughter, now 13 years old, and a son, now nine years old – were born from the marriage. Geingob told the Judge that he wants the court to award joint custody of the children to him and Mrs Geingos.”I would like the children to feel that they are not deprived of their mother,” he said.When Engelbrecht asked him what went wrong in the marriage, Geingob started off by telling the Judge that it had been a high-profile marriage to start with.He said he was the Prime Minister at the time and was very busy, with the result that he did not pay much attention to initial problems in his marriage.There were “disagreements and insults”, but he did not pay too much attention to these, he said.However, when he left office his situation at home got worse, and instead of getting support from his wife, he was attacked and asked why he did not accept “the other offer”, Geingob testified.Geingob left Government on August 27 2002, after serving as Prime Minister for close to 12 and a half years.He resigned from Government after former President Nujoma decided to remove him from his position as Prime Minister and offered him the post of Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing instead.Geingob did not accept the offer.In his testimony yesterday he told Judge Muller that he had the impression that his wife had married his position rather than him.ACCUSATIONS In the divorce papers filed with the court Geingob and Mrs Geingob traded accusations and counter-accusations of assaults, insults, alcohol abuse, and a lack of love, commitment and common interests as having led to the breakdown of their marriage.Only Geingob provided details, though.He said that he and Mrs Geingob shared no common interests.His “lie in reading, watching movies and sport”.Mrs Geingob’s interests, he stated, “lie mainly in gossip”.According to Geingob his wife assaulted him at their home in April 2005, when she, “brandishing a firearm”, allegedly threatened she would shoot him.She then proceeded to fire several shots into the bonnet of his car, he stated.He further claimed that she again assaulted him the following day at their home by hitting him from behind with a bowl.Mrs Geingos flatly denied these claims.She in turn accused Geingob of having had extra-marital affairs with other women.She did not provide any further details, though.Judge Muller granted Geingob a provisional divorce order, with the case set to return to court on September 1.He also asked that a welfare report should be compiled in the meantime to assist the court with its decision on who should be awarded the custody and control of the couple’s children.Geingob offered to pay for the two children’s medical and educational expenses, and also to pay N$5 000 a month towards the maintenance of the children.