Geingob to return next year

FORMER Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob is coming back to live in Namibia, breaking a five-year contract with the Global Coalition for Africa barely two years after becoming its chief executive.

Geingob confirmed from Washington, D.C. that he will be returning, but he mentioned personal matters as the reason, rather than speculation that he was set to rejoin Government as part of the Hifikepunye Pohamba administration.”I’m coming back to my country,” said Geingob, adding that he has heard people asking why he was coming back.”Nobody can keep me out of my country.Next year I’m coming back.I’m breaking my contract.”The former prime minister said the reasons for his return were financial as well as a yearning to be in Namibia.He said he could not continue to maintain two houses and a farm.He has already put up the Washington house for sale.”My farm is going down,” said Geingob, adding that it was expensive enough keeping a farm while he was in Windhoek, let alone now that the family is in the United States.”[A]nd I have been in exile too long.I don’t want to be in exile [any longer], and I want to have a base …you can’t at this age be in America.”Geingob did not necessarily mention “base” in relation to politics, but talk has been doing the rounds for some time that both President Sam Nujoma and Pohamba have expressed their wish to him that he return to the fold.For the past few decades, Geingob had been given the leading tasks by Swapo, such as heading a United Nations tertiary education centre for Namibians in exile, establishing coherent structures and running the party’s election campaign at independence, and serving as the first Prime Minister.On Tuesday he brushed aside any suggestions that he was destined for a major post in Pohamba’s Government, saying it was premature to talk about that.”You don’t rejoin the Government, you are appointed,” said Geingob.But Geingob is all but certain to be elected to parliament after being ranked 40th on Swapo’s list of National Assembly candidates.Cabinet members are mainly appointed from the National Assembly.Speculation is already rife within the ruling party that Geingob will be appointed Prime Minister, and that the constitution could be changed to make him vice-president.Geingob was appointed Executive Secretary of Global Coalition for Africa (GCA) in March last year, six months after President Nujoma sacked him as Prime Minister for reasons that are yet to be explained.GCA is a Washington-based organisation that serves as an “inter-governmental forum” for African leaders and donor countries.The GCA administration works as a part of the World Bank.Geingob said that he felt he has learnt some ideas about governance that are “good and bad”, “I’m the one that started the idea [that Namibia should not borrow] from the World Bank, but I’m saying we don’t have to borrow money, we can borrow ideas,” said Geingob.Geingob is listed among the party leaders to be on the campaign trail for Swapo, but he said because of financial constraints he would only be coming to Namibia to vote.that he will be returning, but he mentioned personal matters as the reason, rather than speculation that he was set to rejoin Government as part of the Hifikepunye Pohamba administration.”I’m coming back to my country,” said Geingob, adding that he has heard people asking why he was coming back.”Nobody can keep me out of my country.Next year I’m coming back.I’m breaking my contract.”The former prime minister said the reasons for his return were financial as well as a yearning to be in Namibia.He said he could not continue to maintain two houses and a farm.He has already put up the Washington house for sale.”My farm is going down,” said Geingob, adding that it was expensive enough keeping a farm while he was in Windhoek, let alone now that the family is in the United States.”[A]nd I have been in exile too long.I don’t want to be in exile [any longer], and I want to have a base …you can’t at this age be in America.”Geingob did not necessarily mention “base” in relation to politics, but talk has been doing the rounds for some time that both President Sam Nujoma and Pohamba have expressed their wish to him that he return to the fold.For the past few decades, Geingob had been given the leading tasks by Swapo, such as heading a United Nations tertiary education centre for Namibians in exile, establishing coherent structures and running the party’s election campaign at independence, and serving as the first Prime Minister.On Tuesday he brushed aside any suggestions that he was destined for a major post in Pohamba’s Government, saying it was premature to talk about that.”You don’t rejoin the Government, you are appointed,” said Geingob.But Geingob is all but certain to be elected to parliament after being ranked 40th on Swapo’s list of National Assembly candidates.Cabinet members are mainly appointed from the National Assembly.Speculation is already rife within the ruling party that Geingob will be appointed Prime Minister, and that the constitution could be changed to make him vice-president.Geingob was appointed Executive Secretary of Global Coalition for Africa (GCA) in March last year, six months after President Nujoma sacked him as Prime Minister for reasons that are yet to be explained.GCA is a Washington-based organisation that serves as an “inter-governmental forum” for African leaders and donor countries.The GCA administration works as a part of the World Bank.Geingob said that he felt he has learnt some ideas about governance that are “good and bad”, “I’m the one that started the idea [that Namibia should not borrow] from the World Bank, but I’m saying we don’t have to borrow money, we can borrow ideas,” said Geingob.Geingob is listed among the party leaders to be on the campaign trail for Swapo, but he said because of financial constraints he would only be coming to Namibia to vote.