There is no denying about Colonel Gadhafi’s support for Namibia’s fight for independence! But Honorable Theo-Ben Gurirab’s, the Speaker of Parliament, failure to forcefully denounce Ghadafi’s murderous campaign against protesters leaves much to be desired.
The career diplomat and Namibia’s first Foreign Affairs Minister told the Namibian newspaper that “Namibia’s relationship with Libya will remain the same despite the violent reprisals against pro-democracy protesters.” According to his dictum “existing bilateral relationships are between nations, and not governments.” What? If indeed TB’s response reflects the overall attitudes of the Namibian government towards Gadhafi’s ongoing violent crackdown and government-sanctioned violence against demonstrators than Namibia has a problem with its foreign policy!
He also went further to suggest that what is happening in North Africa (the uprising) cannot take root in Southern Africa because “the North African demonstrations are a question of democracy and accountability, while in southern Africa, concerns are socio-economic in nature.” Apparently, he does not see the connection/relationship between democracy and socio-economic.