Walvis Bay is the abandoned fishermen’s ‘Omugulugwombashe’ because it is where the war against corruption for them started.
These were the words of chairman of the Namibian Fisherman United Association (NFUA) Mathew Lungameni as he led hundreds of people in an anti-corruption march at the harbour town on Tuesday.
Lungamuni compared the plight of the fishermen to Omugulugwombashe in Omusati region where the first shots were fired of the South African border war in 1966, which ultimately led to Namibia’s independence.
Tuesday’s protests were in light of the ‘fishrot’ scandal, which protestors say violated the human rights of about 900 fishermen at Walvis Bay and Lüderitz, who they claim lost their jobs and lives as a result of the corrupt practices of the suspects in the scandal.
The fishermen claim they are the collateral damage of the ‘fishrot’ corruption scandal that involves former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala.
The protest coincides with Human Rights Day commemorated on 10 December, which also marks the historic 1959 forceful removal of residents from Windhoek’s Old Location to Katutura in which 11 people died and 44 injured while clashing with the police.
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