US security company defends Iraq mission

THE former US military officer who set up a new security company last week to train Namibians in Iraq for security services says this has nothing to do with mercenary work and there is nothing secret about it.

Paul Grimes of SOC Namibia, a subsidiary of the US-based SOC-SMG company, also introduced his Namibian consultant, Alex Kamwi, one of the leaders of the Namibian association of ex-combatants who are demanding huge sums of money from Government for having fought in the liberation struggle. “We are looking for non-combatant security guards to guard dining facilities, gyms, military base hospitals in Iraq,” Grimes said.Although his company was only registered in Namibia last week and calls itself SOC Namibia, it is registered under the name “Grewia Flava Investments Four” with 2007/048 as registration number.The Namibian security guards to serve in Iraq and other hot spots in the world must be between 25 and 55 years old and should have a military, police or security background, he said.”Contracts run for one year and they get a two-week paid vacation.Contracts are renewable,” Grimes added.The guards would get US$1 000 a month paid out to them directly and the rest of the – undisclosed – salary would be deposited into their personal bank accounts back in Namibia.The company could use between 3 000 and 4 000 people.The recruitment process will be done by Africa Personnel Services (APS) on behalf of SOC.Namibians recruited for SOC would first be trained in Iraq and at a later stage a training centre would be set up in Namibia, Grimes promised.Last week, Minister of Information Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah criticised the company and its recruitment drive for possible mercenary work.According to the Namibian Constitution, no Namibian may engage in mercenary work in foreign countries without the written permission of the Ministry of Defence.However, Grimes was adamant this week that he had informed the Ministry of Labour and that of Safety and Security of the campaign.”We are looking for non-combatant security guards to guard dining facilities, gyms, military base hospitals in Iraq,” Grimes said.Although his company was only registered in Namibia last week and calls itself SOC Namibia, it is registered under the name “Grewia Flava Investments Four” with 2007/048 as registration number.The Namibian security guards to serve in Iraq and other hot spots in the world must be between 25 and 55 years old and should have a military, police or security background, he said.”Contracts run for one year and they get a two-week paid vacation.Contracts are renewable,” Grimes added.The guards would get US$1 000 a month paid out to them directly and the rest of the – undisclosed – salary would be deposited into their personal bank accounts back in Namibia.The company could use between 3 000 and 4 000 people.The recruitment process will be done by Africa Personnel Services (APS) on behalf of SOC.Namibians recruited for SOC would first be trained in Iraq and at a later stage a training centre would be set up in Namibia, Grimes promised.Last week, Minister of Information Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah criticised the company and its recruitment drive for possible mercenary work.According to the Namibian Constitution, no Namibian may engage in mercenary work in foreign countries without the written permission of the Ministry of Defence.However, Grimes was adamant this week that he had informed the Ministry of Labour and that of Safety and Security of the campaign.