OVAHERERO paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro has accused the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation of being a government puppet.
Rukoro was speaking at the commemmoration of the Battle of Hamakari, where hundreds of Ovaherero gathered to remember the historical event of the great 1904-07 genocide, in which over 80 000 Ovaherero and Nama people were killed.
In a recording which The Namibian obtained, Rukoro said the NBC refused to cover their event live on the Otjiherero radio service because they want to silence the voice of thousands of people who do not share the same views as those of the government.
“Yes, they are here. They are recording so that the big bosses at NBC and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and others in government can go and listen to what we have to say. They will then edit it, and only by Monday or Tuesday decide what snippets they will share with the rest of the country. The rest they will put in the dustbin,” he charged.
He said the NBC is a “government corporation”, and is no longer a national broadcasting corporation, as the Ovaherero people no longer have a voice.
“Fellow Namibians, I urge you to support us to come up with our own independent commercial radio station,” said Rukoro, to cheers from the crowd.
Rukoro also addressed information minister Tjekero Tweya and President Hage Geingob in his speech, saying this is not what Namibians had fought for.
“We fought for a free press, that is guaranteed in Article 21 of the Namibian Constitution,” he said to further cheers.
Defending his title as paramount chief of the Ovaherero, Rukoro said the Traditional Authorities Act of Namibia gives the Ovaherero people the right to call their chief whatever title they prefer.
He said last week, some people, whom he referred to as blue-eyed boys, went to Tweya and leaders of the NBC, where they asked for NBC radio to cease from referring to him as the ‘paramount chief’.
“The question is: is this land free and independent for some of us, or is it free and independent for all of us? So then, when will this provocative events come to and end, especially since they are carried out by institutions to which we all contribute as taxpayers?” he asked.
Tweya refuted the claims by Rukoro, saying it is something that the national broadcaster would not do.
“It cannot be true. They should in fact be grateful for the coverage that was given. NBC is not a puppet of the government, nor are they restricted in their reporting. If it was hate speech or racial speeches, then the NBC would not report about it because then it would not be in the national interest,” Tweya stressed.
Rukoro was not available to confirm that the audio recording was indeed his. He did not pick up the phone, nor did he respond to SMSes or WhatsApp messages sent to him.
NBC director general Stanley Similo could also not be reached, but text messages were left for him too.
