The president of Namibia, Hage Geingob, has said that his country will not interfere in Zimbabwe’s affairs, telling Zimbabweans that if they felt there was a political problem in their country, they needed to themselves “Go Back and Fight”.
Namibian newspapers, The Namibian, reported yesterday that Geingob made the remarks while addressing students at Columbia University in New York. The president was responding to question from a Zimbabwean student who asked why Namibia has not spoken out against Mugabe despite the political violence and abuses in the country. This, after Botswana president Ian Khama’s recent public criticism of Mugabe.
Geingob questioned why the student believed Namibia had not spoken out:
Because we don’t go out in public and shout, so that you can be happy and dance in the streets of New York?
It’s for Zimbabweans to decide, not us. The rest is yours, you must go back and fight. We can’t fight for you. Therefore, we regard it as a Zimbabwean problem.
I cannot go and fight there (in Zimbabwe). We have an African way of doing things. I cannot say things to please somebody else, and say I condemn Mugabe. No, I will have a way to talk. We are sovereign countries.
What I am saying is that we differ in how we do things. We are not puppets of anybody. We had ideas to see how we go ahead to talk as Africans, our own way.
More: The Namibian, News24