Namibian business link made to ‘mercenary figure’

A NAMIBIAN business connection has begun to emerge with the arrest of more than 60 suspected mercenaries in Zimbabwe this week.

Former British Special Air Services (SAS) member Simon Mann – said to be the mastermind behind an attempt to buy weapons in Zimbabwe – was a partner of Tony Buckingham, a former director of the Namibian Government’s Offshore Development Company (ODC). Buckingham was an ODC director for several years from October 1995.ODC is a trade promotion agency mainly responsible for administering export processing zones within the Ministry of Trade and Industry.The 64 suspected mercenaries detained in Harare since Sunday – 18 Namibians among them – have been linked to coup attempts against Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.Two Zimbabwean ministers said that Mann and the leader of the opposition party in Equatorial Guinea, Nick du Toit, were said to have visited Harare last month on a weapons-buying mission.But Logo Logistics, the company that was transporting the men on the impounded Boeing 727, maintains they were travelling to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to take up contracts for the guarding of mines.Zimbabwe’s military police were shown on national television going through piles of boots and colourful training shoes, blue kitbags, hand-held radios, satellite telephones, loudhailers, sleeping bags, wire cutters, sledgehammers, a small pepper spray and a bright orange dinghy, but there was no sign of firearms, ammunition or explosives.But the state broadcaster’s bulletins described the equipment as of the type “normally used by commandos on specialised missions”, saying they included parachutes.A report in the South African newspaper Beeld said the suspected mercenaries had handed over US$180 000 to buy the weapons from the state-linked arms maker Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI).Mann’s links with Buckingham have not been mentioned by the Zimbabwean authorities.The pair were previously linked to Executive Outcomes, a disbanded South African mercenary outfit to which most of the detained ‘soldiers of fortune’ belonged.Apart from being a director of ODC, Buckingham had mining interests in Namibia.He was a majority shareholder of Camelthorn Mining and Indigo Sky Gems, with NamPower Managing Director Leake Hangala holding a minority stake.The two companies are believed to have closed down.The alleged mercenaries immediate future is unclear.A Zimbabwean Police spokesman told The Namibian yesterday afternoon that they had not yet appeared in court.So far the only Namibian identified as one of the group is Hendrik Hamman, a freelance pilot who farms near the Windhoek International Airport.The Namibian embassy in Harare yesterday declined to comment, referring all queries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.A Ministry official said a briefing had been received from the embassy and that its contents were similar to what had been released to the media.Buckingham was an ODC director for several years from October 1995.ODC is a trade promotion agency mainly responsible for administering export processing zones within the Ministry of Trade and Industry.The 64 suspected mercenaries detained in Harare since Sunday – 18 Namibians among them – have been linked to coup attempts against Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.Two Zimbabwean ministers said that Mann and the leader of the opposition party in Equatorial Guinea, Nick du Toit, were said to have visited Harare last month on a weapons-buying mission.But Logo Logistics, the company that was transporting the men on the impounded Boeing 727, maintains they were travelling to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to take up contracts for the guarding of mines.Zimbabwe’s military police were shown on national television going through piles of boots and colourful training shoes, blue kitbags, hand-held radios, satellite telephones, loudhailers, sleeping bags, wire cutters, sledgehammers, a small pepper spray and a bright orange dinghy, but there was no sign of firearms, ammunition or explosives.But the state broadcaster’s bulletins described the equipment as of the type “normally used by commandos on specialised missions”, saying they included parachutes.A report in the South African newspaper Beeld said the suspected mercenaries had handed over US$180 000 to buy the weapons from the state-linked arms maker Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI).Mann’s links with Buckingham have not been mentioned by the Zimbabwean authorities.The pair were previously linked to Executive Outcomes, a disbanded South African mercenary outfit to which most of the detained ‘soldiers of fortune’ belonged.Apart from being a director of ODC, Buckingham had mining interests in Namibia.He was a majority shareholder of Camelthorn Mining and Indigo Sky Gems, with NamPower Managing Director Leake Hangala holding a minority stake.The two companies are believed to have closed down.The alleged mercenaries immediate future is unclear.A Zimbabwean Police spokesman told The Namibian yesterday afternoon that they had not yet appeared in court.So far the only Namibian identified as one of the group is Hendrik Hamman, a freelance pilot who farms near the Windhoek International Airport.The Namibian embassy in Harare yesterday declined to comment, referring all queries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.A Ministry official said a briefing had been received from the embassy and that its contents were similar to what had been released to the media.