HH was no sell-out Hage praises struggle hero While President Hage Geingob was full of praise for the late Hidipo Hamutenya, the late politician''s son laid his father''s suffering at the hands of Swapo bare. Relatives and friends of the late Hidipo Hamutenya pulled no punches when they spoke about the way Swapo threw him to the dogs. Veteran politician Hidipo Hamutenya, who died on 6 October 2016 at the age of 77, received a hero''s send-off at the Heroes'' Acre on the outskirts of Windhoek on Saturday. According to Hamutenya''s son, Kela Hamutenya his father became the object of a witch-hunt shortly after being nominated as a Swapo Party presidential candidate for 2004.
“What should have been an event that should have catapulted our party Swapo into the annals of democracy, was instead the beginning of the cowardly and vicious witch-hunt that would follow our father to the grave,” said an emotional Kela firmly.
Hamutenya also pointed the fact that his father was fired from his position as foreign affairs minister four days before the party''s extraordinary congress, was suspect.
According to him, Swapo chased his father out and he could only return under a different leadership. Hamutenya who left Swapo in 2007 to form the Rally for Democracy and Progress, returned to the fold of Swapo in 2015, shortly after President Hage Geingob took office.
“He was later accused of massing weapons on the Angolan border, in preparation of an armed invasion of that country. A frivolous assertion,” said Kela.
According to him, his father was not only subject to a Kangaroo court but accusations and insults continued to dog him and even his children were not spared this witch-hunt.
“He was later attacked by an unknown famous group of cowardly writers under the single name of Ananias Nghifitekeko. The cowardly group accused HH and sympathisers of anything possible under the sun. None of those outlandish accusations have ever held true,” he said.
According to Tuliameni Kalomoh, a family friend, HH''s character was always under attack but nothing came close to the most “virulent” and “vile” emails published in the mid-2000s under the pseudonym Nghifitekeko.
“But, Hidipo never stooped as low as to dignify with a response the scurrilous falsehoods peddled by Nghifitekeko,” said Kalomoh.
He added that those who disliked HH may continue to hold on to their views of him, even when his mortal remains are laid to rest.
“They will continue to engage in a weird search for the negatives they believe are important to their unrelenting efforts even against the dead,” he said.
Sell-out
Hamutenya was no sell-out, but only disagreed with them in Swapo, said President Hage Geingob, who delivered the keynote address at Hamutenya''s memorial service in the Parliament Gardens on Friday.
“He fought valiantly against apartheid. He exhibited a strong commitment to uniting Namibia, and a commitment towards taking care of our young cadres so that they don''t go astray. There were never any tribal undertones in anything he did during the struggle,” said Geingob.
Hamutenya studied in the USA together with Geingob and former National Assembly Speaker Theo-Ben Gurirab.
The three were originally known as the ''Swapo Trio'' during the liberation struggle, as they served in various capacities to petition for the independence of Namibia. They are all drafters of the Namibian Constitution.
JEMIMA BEUKES