NDF peacekeepers cleared of sex charges

THREE Namibian Defence Force soldiers accused by the United Nations of sexual exploitation in Liberia are off the hook.

Yesterday, the NDF said it appeared that the UN allegations against the soldiers, who were serving as peacekeepers in Liberia at the time, were false. Only yesterday did extensive attempts by The Namibian since October yield answers as to the outcome of an investigation ordered by Deputy Defence Minister Victor Simunja last May.NDF Chief of Staff Major General Charles Shalumbu said that the NDF Contingent Commander in Liberia had questioned locals who maintained the UN allegations were false and that no woman had been impregnated by any of the three soldiers accused of misconduct.”I’m not saying that no Namibian contingent member impregnated a local woman in the mission area.What I am saying is that none of three or to be more accurate, no claim of such a nature is made and recorded against any of the three,” said Shalumbu.Namibian soldiers have been assigned to the peacekeeping operation in Liberia since February 2004.The three men accused of sexual exploitation were sent home in May, after a UN investigation found them guilty of engaging in sexual activity with civilians against UN regulations.At the time, the UN said the soldiers would have to compensate the families of the impregnated women.Initially five soldiers were investigated on the charges.The April UN report accused soldiers of a number of countries of sexual exploitation, especially in exchange for goods.It further claimed that Namibia’s head of mission in Liberia, Lieutenant Colonel Abed Mukumangeni, had not co-operated with its investigators on the allegations against the Namibian soldiers.Namibia’s current peacekeeping agreement with the UN extends to March, but Shalumbu told The Namibian that the NDF was prepared to extend the assistance if it was requested to do so.Namibia has at any one time around 850 soldiers stationed in Liberia for six-month stints.Only yesterday did extensive attempts by The Namibian since October yield answers as to the outcome of an investigation ordered by Deputy Defence Minister Victor Simunja last May.NDF Chief of Staff Major General Charles Shalumbu said that the NDF Contingent Commander in Liberia had questioned locals who maintained the UN allegations were false and that no woman had been impregnated by any of the three soldiers accused of misconduct.”I’m not saying that no Namibian contingent member impregnated a local woman in the mission area.What I am saying is that none of three or to be more accurate, no claim of such a nature is made and recorded against any of the three,” said Shalumbu.Namibian soldiers have been assigned to the peacekeeping operation in Liberia since February 2004.The three men accused of sexual exploitation were sent home in May, after a UN investigation found them guilty of engaging in sexual activity with civilians against UN regulations.At the time, the UN said the soldiers would have to compensate the families of the impregnated women.Initially five soldiers were investigated on the charges.The April UN report accused soldiers of a number of countries of sexual exploitation, especially in exchange for goods.It further claimed that Namibia’s head of mission in Liberia, Lieutenant Colonel Abed Mukumangeni, had not co-operated with its investigators on the allegations against the Namibian soldiers.Namibia’s current peacekeeping agreement with the UN extends to March, but Shalumbu told The Namibian that the NDF was prepared to extend the assistance if it was requested to do so.Namibia has at any one time around 850 soldiers stationed in Liberia for six-month stints.