Ester Mbathera
The portraits of the late President Hage Geingob will remain hanging until a directive is issued for their removal.
Spokesperson in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT), Shoki Kandjimi, said on Tuesday that the Cabinet will soon announce the way forward.
“The Ministry would like to inform the public that Cabinet will soon make a public pronouncement on the availability and hanging protocols associated with the presidential portraits of the seating president vis-à-vis the former presidents including protocols of the late president. For now, the status quo remains the same as announced by the MICT minister during the mourning period of the late president,” he said.
There is currently no act of parliament or cabinet directive that states explicitly that even the former president’s portrait should be hanging in offices.
What is there is a cabinet directive talking about hanging the portrait of the founding president on the left side of the current head of state as it is done in some African countries.
“There is no law that prescribes how Presidential portraits should be hung in various institutions. Cabinet from time to time gives directions in terms of the way portraits should be mounted. Once the Cabinet has pronounced itself on the matter, the Ministry will launch the portrait of H.E. Dr Nangolo Mbumba, President of the Republic of Namibia and the protocols associated with it,” said Kandjimi.
He also urged public and private institutions to continue hanging the presidential portrait until further notice.
“Once more, we would like to remind the public to respectfully wrap the late President, H.E. Dr. Hage G. Geingob’s portrait with a black ribbon, as it has been the norm,” he said.
