Ndaitwah

Retired defence force chief Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah has defended serving as Zimbabwean coup leader Constantino Chiwenga’s best man at the latter’s wedding in December, saying they share a long history of friendship.Chiwenga tied the knot with his wife, Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi, at the St Gerard Catholic Church in Borrowdale, Harare.Chiwenga was the Zimbabwean army chief when that military led the 2017 coup that toppled Robert Mugabe – an ally of Swapo, where Ndaitwah’s wife, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, currently serves as vice-president. Nandi-Ndaitwah is also Swapo’s candidate in this year’s national presidential election.The coup paved the way for Emmerson Mnangagwa to become Zimbabwe’s president, with his inauguration in Harare attended by former Namibian presidents Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba.‘I was moved’Ndaitwah, who was selected as Chiwenga’s best man, said it came as a surprise that he was bestowed the honour.“I was moved when he extended the invite to me. I did not expect an invitation in that capacity. When he told me I would be the best man, I was moved,” he said.He added that his friendship with Chiwenga spans many years.“It is a relationship that started a long time ago and it was strengthened when we were both the chief of defences of our respective countries. When I went on retirement, I invited General Chiwenga to come see me off and we stayed together with my family for a week at the village,” Ndaitwah, who served as chief of the Namibian Defence Force between 2011 and 2013, said.“It’s not a relationship that started yesterday; it started long ago.”The relations between them even exceed the conventional boundaries of friendship, he said.“Our relationship, in my view, does not end with the two of us - it has gone beyond [that] to our countries and their people, [to] the relationship between Namibia and Zimbabwe.”Change of guardWhen asked how his relationship with Chiwenga reflected on his standing within Swapo and the ousting of Mugabe, Ndaitwah defended his friend’s role in the 2017 events in Zimbabwe.“You define it as a coup; it is just a change that was prompted by something. If it was a coup, it was a coup in a different way,” he said.“In my view, it was not a coup, just a change of guard,” Ndaitwah added.Mugabe’s removal was not met with hostility within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or internationally, he further noted.“The West never made noise. Coups are not accepted within southern Africa. If it was a coup, Zimbabwe could not have been accepted in SADC meetings. If it was a coup, Zimbabwe could have been suspended from SADC."

Ndaitwah

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-20

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Ndaitwah

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-20

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