Abandon Namibia, Rebel Chief Urges Multinational Firms
The leader of SWAPO guerrillas Tuesday urged multinational companies in Namibia (South-West Africa) to quit the territory, saying their operations fuel South Africa’s “war machine.”
Sam Nujoma, president of the South-West Africa People’s Organization, cited Rio Tinto Zinc, Anglo American Corp. and other transnational companies mining in the South African-occupied territory.
“We demand that they quit Namibia. When Namibia is free we will certainly reach an agreement with those multinational corporations which will be beneficial to all of us,” he told a news conference.
“At the present moment those companies are paying taxes, royalties to the Pretoria racist regime to maintain its war machine in Namibia . . . to suppress the just rights of the Namibian people to national independence,” he added.
Nujoma stopped in Nairobi on his way to Angola from a meeting in New Delhi of the Namibia Committee of the Nonaligned Movement.
The United Nations has withdrawn South Africa’s trusteeship mandate over Namibia and declared its occupation illegal.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
