The Mondesa Boy and His Uncle 

In 2012, businessman Desmond Amunyela found himself in China, seated at a table alongside key political figures. Among them were the then prime minister Hage Geingob and the future Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

Accompanying them were senior members of the Chinese Communist Party.

For a man who likes to recall a childhood hustling for survival on the dusty streets of Mondesa, this represented the epitome of power.

A close associate of Geingob at the time, Amunyela and others had just emerged from the rough and tumble of the Swapo congress.

In China, they were lavished with attention. “The Chinese go overboard in exchanging courtesies. They put us in nice houses and they gave us cars (to use) and mentors, people to look after us,” Amunyela recalled.

Amunyela’s star seemed to be on the rise. He called Geingob “uncle” and at some point was tipped to lead a proposed presidential transition team before Geingob was sworn in as president in 2015.

Back then, he moved among the likes of businessman Knowledge Katti, Swapo party regional coordinator Armas Amukwiyu, and former justice minister Sacky Shanghala.

Some in that circle, known as the ‘A Team’, have since found themselves embroiled in controversy, even imprisoned, over scandals.

In around 2015, Amunyela fell from favour, resulting in a rift in his relationship with Geingob. They were not on talking terms for over seven years.

The relationship deteriorated so much that Amunyela threatened to sue Geingob if he did not distance himself from speculation that he wanted to benefit from his proximity to the president.

He now says critics purportedly feared it might lead to a ‘gomcha state’ beholden to wealthy businessmen.

“The Namibian newspaper was the platform through which most of this discontent and disapproval was expressed,” he said.

Amunyela said his proximity to power had nothing to do with him looking for favours. He said he stepped away from Geingob because of differences of opinion.

“In fact, I said to him in a text (message) that it’s best that I stay away from State House and (that I will) try to link with him again after 10 years. I could have tried everything. There was enough equity for me to get him to feel in some type of way to have me around,” he said.

“We had a few differences in terms of how we believed certain things should evolve.”

Amunyela reconnected with Geingob in the last year of the president’s life and spoke to him a few days before he died.

Below is an extract of an interview between Kelvin Chiringa (KC) and Desmond Amunyela (DA).

KC: You were part of a delegation to China where the president invited you to be part of a high-profile meeting in China. Take us through that.

DA: He was not the president yet. He was invited to go to China by the Chinese after the 2012 (Swapo) congress to get some rest. That’s why that trip included a trip to a resort town in the south of China. As friends he asked that we go because we had just come out of a very important process that produced victory and we just wanted to go and bond.

Government people had excluded us. So, he demanded that those arrangements must be rearranged… But the Chinese go overboard in exchanging courtesies. They put us in nice houses and they gave us cars and mentors, people to look after us. The message got back home but it was twisted when we got back. It became something that it wasn’t.

K.C: How did he feel?

D.A: Yes, we attended the meeting with the president, the prime minister and the chairman of the CPC. He is a high-profile person so when you are with him you become high profile. I think a bit of jealousy stepped in from other people, but it wasn’t really anything to make something out of it.

You must remember we come from sharing tears of grief, tears of joy since those early 2000s, 2004 to now. There was a time when friends were few. I remember times we would walk around in town and comrades would see him coming and they would make a detour. He would call people and they would not take his calls. So, I grew into it and it was a good 10 years or so.

KC: So, you are at this pinnacle, then you were all of a sudden away from the proximity of power?

D.A: The pressure was too much. The Namibian newspaper was the platform through which most of this discontent and disapproval was expressed. I remember this time we had gone to watch football in Katutura. We decided to go to my house afterwards. Uncle travels in a convoy. For practical reasons, he couldn’t travel in a convoy to get to the house to wait in front of the gate.

So, his guys said it was best if my car was part of the convoy and we obviously left the event full of all kinds of people with all kinds of interests. They made an issue out of it and The Namibian took it and ran with it and called him all kinds of things.

They said “he would create a gomcha government and he would be this and this”. That he would be controlled by these businessmen. Geingob is a caring person and I felt like a man, this is my uncle and I am contributing towards this.

KC: Have you come to the point of saying to yourself, being away from the centre has been a blessing in disguise because those who stayed found themselves in the jaws of the law. I am talking about the likes of Sacky Shanghala whom you mentioned?

DA: That’s a dangerous statement because it’s made with the presumption that had I stayed there I would have been in the jaws of the law. My dear brother, I started being on the streets from the age of eight. And through that, I have seen the good and the bad of being at odds with the law. I understand to the extent of my benefit exactly what needs to be avoided not to be in the jaws of the law. .

KC: You reconnected with Geingob last year. What did you talk about? 

DA: The day that he had the Hage Geingob Cup, I went to pick up tickets from the first lady … and I found him and Monica there (with a) few staff members. Monica gave us space and he and I sat for about 45 minutes and we talked.

In that conversation, I saw something I’d never seen in him before. I saw somebody transitioning. He was talking about the past. He was talking to me in a normal way, even recognising the fact that he is the president. He was talking about what life must be, how we must be as humans.

After that day I realised damn, I am here telling myself that I am waiting for him to finish his term of office so that I can reconnect like it was in the past, but he is telling me about how he is not doing so well. I decided that I should check up on him often.

That Wednesday (21 February) I was told he was leaving for the United States. We (Paragon) handled the aircraft (at HKIA). So, I texted him. He made a joke about whether that thing will be able to get him up. So he said we would be in touch.

I got a call from the (then) first lady Monica, (before he died). She said your uncle wants to talk to you. So we got into our thing and he was telling me he got there safely and that he is well and I must tell the comrades he is doing well, that he would be back soon, and that he can’t call them all. He asked whether I had gone for my medical tests. He encouraged me to go and told me how he found out about his condition.

You know the usual Hage, full of life and no sign of any stress. Then we went into the normal jokes, just talking about life. But he did mention something which stuck with me. He said, “Ha Desmond, you’ve really been there. Ai, you are my guy.” And as he said it, I wanted to hear more. As quick as it (the moment) came, it went. He said, “OK bye, here is your sister.” We said goodbye and that’s it. That was the last time I spoke to him.

On Wednesday, we were notified that he is coming back, “we” as the support on the ground, in terms of aircraft support.  He came back … and I got to hear that he wasn’t doing so well. On a Friday or Saturday, I can’t remember so well, Monica texted to say it is not so good with uncle but “we are hopeful”.

She was kind enough to continue keeping us informed until the fateful moment … (then) I got a call from her (telling me) he was no more. I rushed to Lady Pohamba and found his body still in the hospital. He was very at peace, just like he was sleeping. When I felt his arm, he was just the normal Hage Geingob. I believe he checked out on his own terms.