Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09WINDHOEK424
2009-11-20 07:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Windhoek
Cable title:  

SWAPO DODGES CHINESE SCHOLARSHIP SCANDAL

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM WA CH PA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHWD #0424/01 3240719
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 200719Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0866
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0106
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0024
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0001
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0001
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0004
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WINDHOEK 000424 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM WA CH PA
SUBJECT: SWAPO DODGES CHINESE SCHOLARSHIP SCANDAL

REF: A. WINDHOEK 272

B. WINDHOEK 118

C. WINDHOEK 302

WINDHOEK 00000424 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Dennise Mathieu for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WINDHOEK 000424

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM WA CH PA
SUBJECT: SWAPO DODGES CHINESE SCHOLARSHIP SCANDAL

REF: A. WINDHOEK 272

B. WINDHOEK 118

C. WINDHOEK 302

WINDHOEK 00000424 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Dennise Mathieu for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Summary. For weeks, the Namibian government has been
under pressure by the public, the media, and the political
opposition to explain how the children of ten prominent
government officials, including the president, were awarded
coveted scholarships to study in China. Many Namibians,
including some South West African People's Organization
(SWAPO) supporters, are angry that the process was not
transparent and that children of lower income families do not
appear to have been considered for the scholarships. The
Chinese Embassy has been forced to weigh in as well. Despite
the fact that many are labeling this a case of corruption,
the scandal will not likely dent SWAPO's support in the
presidential and National Assembly elections. End summary.

--------------
A Chinese Gift
--------------


2. (U) On October 15, the weekly Informante newspaper
reported that the children of high-ranking Government of
Republic of Namibia (GRN) and SWAPO officials had received
scholarships to attend undergraduate university programs in
China. The children include: the daughter of President
Pohamba, the daughter of the Deputy Minister of Lands and
Resettlement, the son of the Police Inspector General, the
son of the Minister of Defense, the son of the Deputy
Minister of Mines and Energy, and a relative of former first
lady Kovambo Nujoma. Some outlets reported that the daughter
of the Minister of Justice and the son of the Minister of
Home Affairs also benefited. Several of the aforementioned
parents confirmed in the Informante article that their
children departed Namibia in August to study in China on
scholarships provided by the Chinese government.


3. (U) The Chinese scholarships story quickly became front
page news. Pundits, opposition politicians, civil society
and members of the public labeled it corruption and demanded
that the government explain who had chosen the recipients,

what selection criteria were used and whether the
scholarships were publicly advertised. Norman Tjombe, the
executive director of the respected Legal Assistance Center,
summarized the criticisms in several opinion pieces, asking
why the children of relatively affluent parents, all of them
senior government officials, had received scholarships at the
expense of poor, yet academically-qualified students.

--------------
Can't Bribe with a Scholarship
--------------


4. (U) Minister of Education Nangolo Mbumba held a series of
press conferences in late October and early November to
dispel "fabricated, misleading, and politically motivated"
reports on the scholarships. In them, Mbumba explained that
there had been 22 Chinese scholarships in total, but that his
ministry had been given only 10 scholarships by the Chinese
government to award to Namibian youth. He claimed that the
scholarships which had been given to the children of senior
officials were awarded directly by the Chinese government.
Mbumba was unsure of the selection criteria the Chinese had
used, but he speculated that the Chinese Embassy had made the
final decisions. He tried to assure the public that "You
can't bribe someone with a bursary (scholarship)." He added,
"It's not the ministers who are being sponsored by the
Chinese." Mbumba went on to defend his colleagues, arguing
none of them had requested such gifts nor tried to influence
the selection process. In fact, he insisted, Pohamba's
daughter had applied for the scholarship without her parents'
knowledge.


5. (U) Mbumba said that China had offered 40 bursaries to
Namibian students over the last three years, all in
accordance with the GRN's education policy. He stated that
the GRN has offered financial assistance to 35,000 Namibian
students since 1997, 6,000 of which are being aided this
year. Mbumba would not say how the government officials'
children learned of the scholarships or whether the bursaries
had been advertised.


6. (U) Notably, the fiercely loyal SWAPO Party Youth League
(SPYL) questioned the government's honesty. On the SPYL

WINDHOEK 00000424 002.2 OF 002


website, SPYL Secretary Elijah Ngurare asked whether the
Chinese government had attached strings to the scholarships
for "future favors by our government" for the Chinese
government itself or for Chinese companies seeking tenders in
Namibia. His colleague Natangue Ithete called on the GRN to
re-advertise the scholarships.

--------------
Chinese Response
--------------


7. (C) A Chinese embassy spokesman told journalists that the
Chinese Ministry of Education had selected 14 students from
40 applications that were submitted through the Chinese
Embassy. Yiming Zhang, the Deputy Chief of Mission, told
Poloff that he and his colleagues were frustrated with the
Namibian press in general and particularly on this issue. He
believed the bursary story was politically-motivated and
designed to make SWAPO look bad before the elections. Zhang
claimed it was the Chinese universities accepting the
students that had laid down the selection criteria. In
addition, he defended the choices those institutions made,
saying their decisions were based on merit and not financial
need. "They chose the best students, not the poor students.
We are not here to lift people out of poverty."

--------------
Conclusion
--------------


8. (C) Although the opposition has not been able to
successfully keep SWAPO on the defensive during the campaign,
several of the parties have managed to make government
corruption a recurring election theme. In addition to the
bursaries scandal, in September, SWAPO defended a Namibian
dollar 2.5 million (USD 335,000) gift of campaign materials
from the Pakistan Oshikango Welfare Association, an
association of 11 companies owned by Pakistani permanent
residents in Namibia. The opposition Rally for Democracy and
Progress (RDP) argued that the donation amounted to a bribe
and inappropriate foreign influence in domestic political
activities (Note: In Namibia, foreign funding should be
declared, but loopholes in electoral legislation mean parties
are not obligated to do so. (ref A). End note.)


9. (C) The Chinese have a long history of making generous
donations to the GRN and to SWAPO (ref B). This year, some
of those loans and gifts have brought the Chinese government
a strong dose of criticism and negative publicity (ref C).
The scholarship case has particular resonance for civil
society and the public because this is the first time a large
segment of the "inner circle"-- as opposed to an individual--
is seen to be benefiting from a foreign gift-- and at the
public's expense. Although many Namibians lament the growing
Chinese influence in their country, the sentiment does not
appear to be strong enough to damage the popular SWAPO's
chances at the polls.
MATHIEU