Tributes flow for MP Gertze

AN outstanding leader, a freedom fighter, a democrat, a talented lawmaker and an outstanding academic.

These were some of the tributes heaped on late opposition Member of Parliament Kala Gertze at a solemn memorial service in Parliament Gardens yesterday. More than 600 people, including the leaders of all political parties represented in the National Assembly, attended the event.Prime Minister Nahas Angula read a message from President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who wrote that the National Assembly had been robbed of a “bright lawmaker”.”We are consoled by his efforts to strengthen multi-party democracy and he preached the message of national reconciliation as (being) vital for our country,” President Pohamba said.Swapo Vice President Dr Hage Geingob, who is related to Gertze by marriage, recalled that Gertze had been one of the brightest students at the UN Institute for Namibia (Unin) in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1979.Gertze died on Wednesday last week.He was 47 years old.Many people who were detained with Gertze in the Lubango dungeons were present to pay their last respects.Gertze was held in Swapo’s dungeons at Lubango, southern Angola, between 1983 and 1989 after Swapo security falsely accused him of being a spy for apartheid South Africa.In her eulogy, Pauline Dempers, one of the Lubango detainees, said that Gertze’s role in the liberation struggle had not yet been fully acknowledged.She called on parliamentarians to open the debate on that dark chapter of Namibia’s liberation history.Gertze’s attempt to table a motion in that regard in October 2006 was rejected by the Swapo majority in the Chamber.”As one of the Lubango detainees and on behalf of Kala Gertze’s children and the children of all Lubango victims I appeal to all Members of Parliament to reconsider his motion and to open the debate,” Dempers said.Her appeal was echoed by Henk Mudge, President of the Republican Party.Gertze said Gertze’s earthly mission had not been completed.”Our fellow parliamentarian wanted the final chapter written in this sad matter and brought to a conclusion.”Gertze was a lecturer in French at the University of Namibia and a founding member of the opposition party Congress of Democrats (CoD).In more recent years, he served as the party’s secretary general.He represented the party in Parliament from 2005 until his death.More than 600 people, including the leaders of all political parties represented in the National Assembly, attended the event.Prime Minister Nahas Angula read a message from President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who wrote that the National Assembly had been robbed of a “bright lawmaker”.”We are consoled by his efforts to strengthen multi-party democracy and he preached the message of national reconciliation as (being) vital for our country,” President Pohamba said.Swapo Vice President Dr Hage Geingob, who is related to Gertze by marriage, recalled that Gertze had been one of the brightest students at the UN Institute for Namibia (Unin) in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1979.Gertze died on Wednesday last week.He was 47 years old.Many people who were detained with Gertze in the Lubango dungeons were present to pay their last respects.Gertze was held in Swapo’s dungeons at Lubango, southern Angola, between 1983 and 1989 after Swapo security falsely accused him of being a spy for apartheid South Africa.In her eulogy, Pauline Dempers, one of the Lubango detainees, said that Gertze’s role in the liberation struggle had not yet been fully acknowledged.She called on parliamentarians to open the debate on that dark chapter of Namibia’s liberation history.Gertze’s attempt to table a motion in that regard in October 2006 was rejected by the Swapo majority in the Chamber.”As one of the Lubango detainees and on behalf of Kala Gertze’s children and the children of all Lubango victims I appeal to all Members of Parliament to reconsider his motion and to open the debate,” Dempers said.Her appeal was echoed by Henk Mudge, President of the Republican Party.Gertze said Gertze’s earthly mission had not been completed.”Our fellow parliamentarian wanted the final chapter written in this sad matter and brought to a conclusion.”Gertze was a lecturer in French at the University of Namibia and a founding member of the opposition party Congress of Democrats (CoD).In more recent years, he served as the party’s secretary general.He represented the party in Parliament from 2005 until his death.