Words of praise flow as Nujoma takes his leave

OPPOSITION leaders had warm words of appreciation for President Sam Nujoma in the National Assembly yesterday afternoon when they posed questions to him following his farewell State of the Nation address.

Nujoma had already received an extended standing ovation from Members of Parliament from both sides of the House when MPs got their customary chance to question to the Head of State. This part of the annual State of the Nation ritual has not become known for particularly hostile questions being directed at the President.That, nevertheless, has not stopped Nujoma from sometimes rewarding questioners with scathing and dismissive replies and finger-wagging reprimands.There was none of that yesterday.The first to rise to put a question, that turned out not to be one at all, was DTA President Katuutire Kaura, who addressed Nujoma on behalf of the DTA-UDF Coalition.He said he wanted to express the Coalition’s gratitude for the “unequalled statesmanship” that Nujoma had shown by allowing a younger generation to take Namibia into the future.”Your spirit will guide Namibia for another thousand years to come,” Kaura continued, turning up the rhetoric.”Namibia will never forget you.”For that, Kaura, too, received applause from his fellow MPs.He went on to say that the DTA-UDF would donate N$5 000 to the disaster fund for the flood in the Caprivi Region, and that the Coalition would also, as a token of appreciation for Nujoma’s services to the nation, send a team of members to work on the railway extension project in northern Namibia in a week’s time.Congress of Democrats (CoD) President Ben Ulenga was the next to take the floor.He, too, had only words of appreciation to direct at the President.He said Namibia had the good fortune to have had Nujoma “as one of its most illustrious sons”.For almost 50 years the country had had the benefit of a leadership role having been fulfilled by Nujoma, Ulenga continued, before asking whether the President would still be available for service to the nation once he had completed his service as Head of State.Ulenga was followed by Kosie Pretorius, leader and sole MP of the Monitor Action Group (MAG), who started off by saying that Nujoma knew that he and Pretorius had on many occasions differed, and often differed fundamentally.But, Pretorius added, the fact that they were still together yesterday, was because of an agreement – they had agreed to disagree.He went on to ask Nujoma what advice he would offer to a future President on how to lead by example and how to deal with people who took the law into their own hands, disturbing peace and security.Nujoma did not answer those questions directly, but it did not seem that it particularly bothered anyone.Thanking Kaura for his words, he said:”It makes me feel that so long the head is together with the neck, I will be able to move to any part of the country and accept any assignment to work only in the interest of Namibians, irrespective of colour.”On Ulenga’s question, he said: “I will certainly be available.You can call on me 24 hours, around the clock.I normally only sleep four hours – this is something we learned in the struggle.”Nujoma displayed a sense of humour as he turned to Pretorius’s comments.More MAG members were needed in Parliament, he remarked, to laughter from all around the Assembly, including from Pretorius, who has diligently borne the standard for MAG alone in Parliament for almost 10 years now.Nujoma added that he wanted to thank MPs – and also those from the opposition – for the contributions they had made to the achievements that Namibia could look back on after 14 years of Independence.”I only hope that almighty God will give us the wisdom to continue to work together for the economic reconstruction (of Namibia) and prosperity for all our citizens,” he concluded.With that, question time was over, and following embraces with Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab and Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi, Nujoma was escorted out of the Assembly.Again there was standing applause.This part of the annual State of the Nation ritual has not become known for particularly hostile questions being directed at the President.That, nevertheless, has not stopped Nujoma from sometimes rewarding questioners with scathing and dismissive replies and finger-wagging reprimands.There was none of that yesterday.The first to rise to put a question, that turned out not to be one at all, was DTA President Katuutire Kaura, who addressed Nujoma on behalf of the DTA-UDF Coalition.He said he wanted to express the Coalition’s gratitude for the “unequalled statesmanship” that Nujoma had shown by allowing a younger generation to take Namibia into the future.”Your spirit will guide Namibia for another thousand years to come,” Kaura continued, turning up the rhetoric.”Namibia will never forget you.”For that, Kaura, too, received applause from his fellow MPs.He went on to say that the DTA-UDF would donate N$5 000 to the disaster fund for the flood in the Caprivi Region, and that the Coalition would also, as a token of appreciation for Nujoma’s services to the nation, send a team of members to work on the railway extension project in northern Namibia in a week’s time.Congress of Democrats (CoD) President Ben Ulenga was the next to take the floor.He, too, had only words of appreciation to direct at the President.He said Namibia had the good fortune to have had Nujoma “as one of its most illustrious sons”.For almost 50 years the country had had the benefit of a leadership role having been fulfilled by Nujoma, Ulenga continued, before asking whether the President would still be available for service to the nation once he had completed his service as Head of State.Ulenga was followed by Kosie Pretorius, leader and sole MP of the Monitor Action Group (MAG), who started off by saying that Nujoma knew that he and Pretorius had on many occasions differed, and often differed fundamentally.But, Pretorius added, the fact that they were still together yesterday, was because of an agreement – they had agreed to disagree.He went on to ask Nujoma what advice he would offer to a future President on how to lead by example and how to deal with people who took the law into their own hands, disturbing peace and security.Nujoma did not answer those questions directly, but it did not seem that it particularly bothered anyone.Thanking Kaura for his words, he said:”It makes me feel that so long the head is together with the neck, I will be able to move to any part of the country and accept any assignment to work only in the interest of Namibians, irrespective of colour.”On Ulenga’s question, he said: “I will certainly be available.You can call on me 24 hours, around the clock.I normally only sleep four hours – this is something we learned in the struggle.”Nujoma displayed a sense of humour as he turned to Pretorius’s comments.More MAG members were needed in Parliament, he remarked, to laughter from all around the Assembly, including from Pretorius, who has diligently borne the standard for MAG alone in Parliament for almost 10 years now.Nujoma added that he wanted to thank MPs – and also those from the opposition – for the contributions they had made to the achievements that Namibia could look back on after 14 years of Independence.”I only hope that almighty God will give us the wisdom to continue to work together for the economic reconstruction (of Namibia) and prosperity for all our citizens,” he concluded.With that, question time was over, and following embraces with Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab and Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi, Nujoma was escorted out of the Assembly.Again there was standing applause.