Military museum still off-limits to public

A MILITARY museum at Okahandja, built in 2004 at an estimated cost of N$25 million to N$30 million but still closed to the public, will only be commissioned towards the end of the year, says the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Peter Shivute.

Sihvute was answering a set of written questions from The Namibian asking why the museum was still off-limits to the public, with soldiers forcibly preventing anyone from photographing the building for the past four years. His deputy, Mwetufa Mupopiwa, said the Ministry was still collecting items for display in the museum, which was taking a lot of time.He declined to give a firm estimate of when the museum would be opened to the public.Mupopiwa also declined a request for photographing the outside of the museum.Shivute warned that anyone disobeying orders not to photograph any military premises could be prosecuted under Sections 54 and 55 of the Defence Act of 2002, which prohibits the publication of any military-related information without the Minister’s explicit permission.The museum is situated off the main road to Otjiwarongo, next to Telecom Namibia’s local premises and opposite the Okahandja Magistrate’s Court.Local people said the museum was built in 2004 by a team of North Koreans, who demolished the historic German fort previously situated there that served as a Police station before Independence.Shivute declined to comment on whether the same North Korean construction company that built the new State House and Heroes’ Acre were involved in building the museum, which sports an larger-than-life mural of former President Sam Nujoma on its front wall.At present, the open-air display holds a number of Soviet-era military vehicles and anti-aircraft guns, many of which appear to originate from the former People’s Liberation Army of Namibia stockpiles brought back from Angola in 1989.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587His deputy, Mwetufa Mupopiwa, said the Ministry was still collecting items for display in the museum, which was taking a lot of time.He declined to give a firm estimate of when the museum would be opened to the public.Mupopiwa also declined a request for photographing the outside of the museum.Shivute warned that anyone disobeying orders not to photograph any military premises could be prosecuted under Sections 54 and 55 of the Defence Act of 2002, which prohibits the publication of any military-related information without the Minister’s explicit permission.The museum is situated off the main road to Otjiwarongo, next to Telecom Namibia’s local premises and opposite the Okahandja Magistrate’s Court.Local people said the museum was built in 2004 by a team of North Koreans, who demolished the historic German fort previously situated there that served as a Police station before Independence. Shivute declined to comment on whether the same North Korean construction company that built the new State House and Heroes’ Acre were involved in building the museum, which sports an larger-than-life mural of former President Sam Nujoma on its front wall.At present, the open-air display holds a number of Soviet-era military vehicles and anti-aircraft guns, many of which appear to originate from the former People’s Liberation Army of Namibia stockpiles brought back from Angola in 1989.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081 240 1587