Utoni Nujoma gunning for Max Hamata

SHOULD Confidénte editor Max Hamata not meet with Foreign Minister Utoni Nujoma within the next two weeks to discuss his ‘fanciful fabrications’, they will meet in court.

In a strongly worded letter, Nujoma – through his lawyer, Richard Metcalfe – accuses the tabloid editor of a personal vendetta against him.This alleged personal grudge, the letter states, is not only directed to the minister but also towards his wife, Marianne, and his father, Founding President Sam Nujoma.’The honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Utoni Nujoma, has noted with concern that you appear to have a personal vendetta against himself and the Nujoma family. This is evidenced by malicious, false and defamatory articles which you occasioned to be published previously when you were the editor of Informanté.’While he headed the Trustco mouthpiece, Informanté, Hamata came under fire following news reports about the reported ill-health of Sam Nujoma. He subsequently parted ways with Trustco and since started Confidénte. The latest thorn in the Nujoma flesh is two articles which appeared in the weekly over the past two weeks.On April 5, the newspaper published a report headlined ‘Foreign Affairs Ministry favours Minister’s wife’. In this article, it was reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is accused of having made provision to accommodate Marianne Nujoma as a deputy director after she allegedly failed to qualify for the senior position.In Metcalfe’s letter, it is charged that ‘despite confirmation from the Public Service Commission that due diligence was utilised in such appointment of Mrs Nujoma and that such appointment was made on merit by an impartial panel, you [Hamata] persisted with an anonymous source’s allegation of favouritism’.Such allegations, the letter states, are ‘simply devoid of fact, substance or veracity and has been perpetrated by you with the intention to defame both our clients’.Equally, Nujoma does not take kindly to an article which appeared in Confidénte on April 12. The lawyer’s letter states that this article – headlined ‘Personal dislikes disrupt diplomatic reshuffle’ – ‘falsely accused [Nujoma] of devising ways to accommodate his interests by making unilateral promotions and indulging in machinations to appoint and promote personnel.’The alleged defamation in the two articles has international implications because it was published on the internet, it is charged.Nujoma strictly obeys the law as far as his ministerial duties are concerned, including regulations on appointment, promotion and transfer of staff members, Metcalfe writes.Despite complaint procedures, none of Hamata’s ‘so-called impeccable sources and/ or alleged anonymous sources’ lodged any grievance, it is stated.In trying to verify the story, Hamata ‘at no stage had the manners to observe protocol by scheduling a meeting to engage our client or his wife on your nefarious and false allegations. Instead you have chosen the cowardly route of attempting to engage the honourable minister telephonically when he is involved with official meetings and at inopportune times.’Although the Public Service Commission needs to be approached about Marianne Nujoma’s appointment, Hamata instead chose to harass her, it is stated. ‘The honourable minister has reached the end of his tether with your treatment of himself and members of his family as tabloid titbits in your fanciful fantasies which you fabricate for your own purposes.’Nujoma wants to see him ‘face to face’ within two weeks ‘in an attempt to allay your perceived personal vendetta against himself and his family. Mr and Mrs Nujoma are entitled to know what the precise allegations are against them and to address such issues if they contain any smidgen of truth and do not remain anonymous.’Upon enquiry, Hamata said: ‘I want to say that my newspaper is an essential institution that was created to gauge public scrutiny on any publish institution. Secondly, I want to emphasise that I have tried numerously to engage Mr Utoni Nujoma on issues that are of public concern with regard to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.’He expressed excitement to meet Nujoma. ‘I am willing to meet him, because it is important to clarify and ease his paranoia that I am after his family. I have all respect for the founding father. He should not try and draw that institution, the founding father, into his professional career. He should not involve the old man at all.’