Nauyoma’s jail cell letter humbles PDM’s Hamata
Still locked up since last month’s arrest
"I can't explain the joy the news brought to my heart when I received it. I shed a tear of joy, understanding the journey all of you walked to get here," the activist wrote.
Activist Dimbulukeni Nauyoma has written a letter from behind bars congratulating Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) members Charmaine Tjirare and Hidipo Hamata on their Supreme Court win.
The victory will see six current members of parliament on the party’s ticket pack their suitcases and go home.
Nauyoma is currently in police custody after a failed bail attempt since his arrest last month. This follows his involvement in the organising of a protest during which they called on government to act on Chinese businesses at Windhoek’s Chinatown.
However, despite being behind bars, he managed to congratulate Tjirare and Hamata through a letter currently circulating on various social media platforms for remaining resolute to challenge the action of the party.
PDM had altered a list of candidates to be deployed to Parliament ahead of the 2019 presidential and national assembly elections.
“My intent to write this letter is to congratulate you on a well-deserved victory against a system and culture to disregard the law,” the letter read.
“Through your conviction, many will now show sympathy and will benefit as a result of your never-ending commitment to the cause.
Tears of joy
“I can’t explain the joy the news brought to my heart when I received it. I shed a tear of joy, understanding the journey all of you walked to get here.
“At this point, I wish to also congratulate [lawyer] Norman [Tjombe] for his never-ending support to fight injustice.
“This will and has sent a message; in fact, a strong message to others. It is a shame that others backed out and left you to fight and I admire that all of you did not give up. Thank you for being there to shape and contribute to the real politics of our society. For contributing to constitutional democracy.
“I ... indeed have faith that our issues will be addressed in the August House. We shall catch up once the government lets us go one day. Please keep up the spirit,” the emotional letter further read.
What happened
During the run-up to the elections in 2019, PDM submitted its original election list, decided by its central committee, to be gazetted.
During this process, it was found that some of these nominees were civil servants and therefore had to either resign from their respective jobs or vacate the party list.
Six members vacated the list and were replaced by Tjirare, Reggie Diergaardt, Mike Venaani (father of PDM leader McHenry Venaani), Frans Bertolini, Yvette Araes and Maximilliant Katjimune.
The list the Electoral Commission of Namibia submitted for gazetting had the latter names, but after the elections, PDM made a U-turn and replaced the six with who were originally on the list.
This prompted a legal challenge by Tjirare and fellow PDM National Assembly candidate Hamata, through Tjombe, who called the removal of his clients’ names “fraudulent”.
[email protected]
The victory will see six current members of parliament on the party’s ticket pack their suitcases and go home.
Nauyoma is currently in police custody after a failed bail attempt since his arrest last month. This follows his involvement in the organising of a protest during which they called on government to act on Chinese businesses at Windhoek’s Chinatown.
However, despite being behind bars, he managed to congratulate Tjirare and Hamata through a letter currently circulating on various social media platforms for remaining resolute to challenge the action of the party.
PDM had altered a list of candidates to be deployed to Parliament ahead of the 2019 presidential and national assembly elections.
“My intent to write this letter is to congratulate you on a well-deserved victory against a system and culture to disregard the law,” the letter read.
“Through your conviction, many will now show sympathy and will benefit as a result of your never-ending commitment to the cause.
Tears of joy
“I can’t explain the joy the news brought to my heart when I received it. I shed a tear of joy, understanding the journey all of you walked to get here.
“At this point, I wish to also congratulate [lawyer] Norman [Tjombe] for his never-ending support to fight injustice.
“This will and has sent a message; in fact, a strong message to others. It is a shame that others backed out and left you to fight and I admire that all of you did not give up. Thank you for being there to shape and contribute to the real politics of our society. For contributing to constitutional democracy.
“I ... indeed have faith that our issues will be addressed in the August House. We shall catch up once the government lets us go one day. Please keep up the spirit,” the emotional letter further read.
What happened
During the run-up to the elections in 2019, PDM submitted its original election list, decided by its central committee, to be gazetted.
During this process, it was found that some of these nominees were civil servants and therefore had to either resign from their respective jobs or vacate the party list.
Six members vacated the list and were replaced by Tjirare, Reggie Diergaardt, Mike Venaani (father of PDM leader McHenry Venaani), Frans Bertolini, Yvette Araes and Maximilliant Katjimune.
The list the Electoral Commission of Namibia submitted for gazetting had the latter names, but after the elections, PDM made a U-turn and replaced the six with who were originally on the list.
This prompted a legal challenge by Tjirare and fellow PDM National Assembly candidate Hamata, through Tjombe, who called the removal of his clients’ names “fraudulent”.
[email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article