Namibia fired its agriculture minister Mac-Albert Hengari after claims he raped a teenage girl five years ago. Police arrested him Saturday when he tried to pay the victim money to drop her case. He says he did nothing wrong before his court date comes up soon. This marks the first major problem for President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who just started her job last month. Officials removed him from both his ministry work and his seat in the National Assembly.
The president picked Hengari for parliament as part of the ruling Swapo party. Police look into several crimes linked to him, such as kidnapping and assault. Opposition groups call his arrest a leadership failure that shows empty talk about fighting gender violence. They point to almost 5,000 cases reported last year across a population of three million people. Critics question how he became minister when police had already started investigating him last November.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah recently formed a cabinet with nine women among 14 total members. She won the election with 58 percent support from voters. The 72-year-old comes from Swapo, which has run the country since freedom from South Africa in 1990.
The president picked Hengari for parliament as part of the ruling Swapo party. Police look into several crimes linked to him, such as kidnapping and assault. Opposition groups call his arrest a leadership failure that shows empty talk about fighting gender violence. They point to almost 5,000 cases reported last year across a population of three million people. Critics question how he became minister when police had already started investigating him last November.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah recently formed a cabinet with nine women among 14 total members. She won the election with 58 percent support from voters. The 72-year-old comes from Swapo, which has run the country since freedom from South Africa in 1990.
