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afrol.com, 3 July - Namibian President Sam Nujoma intends to sue the weekly "Windhoek Observer" newspaper for reporting that he owns a diamond mine in Congo Kinshasa (DRC).
The President and other high ranking government spokespeople have consistently denied any link between Namibia's involvement in the war in the DRC and alleged economic interests, particularly that of diamond mines, amid several such allegations in the media since last year. The article in the "Observer" claimed that a 25 square kilometre open cast diamond mine at Maji Munene, 45km from Tshikapa in the DRC, was handed over to Namibian army officials last year August. It named two army officials, which the newspaper said were closely linked to State House, as running the mine. Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Tuliameni Kalomoh said in reaction to the article that the President's diamond mine existed only in the "peculiarly sick imagination of the author". Plans to sue the newspaper over the article were apparently made before Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's recent revelation to a South African newspaper that DRC President Laurent Kabila had given both Namibia and his country diamond mines. Mugabe said the mines were not the personal property of either himself or Nujoma. "Windhoek Observer" Editor Hannes Smith said he was "looking forward to a confrontation [with President Nujoma] in court". Smith is still facing another lawsuit filed by the President two years ago, but which has yet to come before the courts. In August 1998 Nujoma filed papers to sue Smith and his paper for defamation of character, asking Nam$1,25 million for several articles. Smith reports that he has spent Nam$50 000 on legal fees in preparation for the case, but nothing has come of it yet.
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The "Namibian" newspaper reports that the President has instructed Government lawyers to institute legal action over the article and photographs that appeared in the June 3 edition of the "Observer". The Justice Minister and Attorney General, Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, confirmed that there were plans to sue, but official instructions to this effect had yet to be given.
