VZCZCXRO3517
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) 
 
¶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