NDF makes U-turn on AR candidate’s discharge

THE Namibian Defence Force (NDF) has made a U-turn on the discharge of a member of the force, Andemale ‘Kassie’ Shikongo, who stood as an Affirmative Repositioning (AR) candidate in the Walvis Bay local authority election in November.

Shikongo was informed on Monday that he was to be reinstated.

“I was very shocked after I established that the Ministry of Defence wants to reinstate me in silence after all the humiliation I have gone through at the hands of air marshal Martin Pinehas and Marine Corps commandant Appolos Haimbala,” said Shikongo. “I did not ask to be reinstated.”

Shikongo – a former leading seaman of the Marine Corps – was discharged for allegedly violating NDF regulations prohibiting members of the defence force from participating in political party activities and from being a candidate or prospective candidate for election as a member of parliament or any public body.

Shikongo was discharged two weeks after he had submitted his resignation before his nomination to stand as local authority candidate.

The Affirmative Repositioning movement failed to win a seat on the Walvis Bay Town Council, as the organisation managed to collect only 487 votes in the elections in November last year.

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