WINDHOEK – The U.S. Ambassador to Namibia Wanda Nesbitt bade farewell to both President Hifikepunye Pohamba and Prime Minister Dr Hage Geingob at their offices yesterday.
Nesbitt revealed that U.S. President Barack Obama has already announced a new ambassadorial appointment to replace Nesbitt, however it is not yet known when the new appointee would take up his duties as the Senate is yet to confirm the appointment and it might take a while due to the recent closure of some operations of the U.S. government. Nesbitt expressed gratitude over the good cooperation that she enjoyed from the Namibian government during the three years that she served here. She promised to continue doing what she can to assist Namibia in its quest for development.
“Namibia is a fantastic country, I have travelled to almost all the regions and I have seen that government has accomplished a great deal,” she said. She highlighted various programmes such as the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and Peace Corps volunteers, saying they have done a tremendous job that benefitted thousands of ordinary Namibians, especially the rural poor. Prime Minister Geingob was also pleased with what the U.S. government has done for Namibia during Nesbitt’s tour of duty here and added she was a great diplomat to work with.
Geingob further commended the U.S. government for including Namibia under the MCA deal, saying with Namibia’s latest categorization as an upper middle-income country it would not have been able to provide some of the services that were funded by the MCA, especially in the tourism and education sectors. “Our HIV has gone down, the Peace Corps volunteers are doing a great job. I find them deep in the bush and they really inspire me, sorry to see you go, but that is the nature of the work, we look forward to the next Ambassador” Geingob said.
Geingob and Nesbitt agreed that although the two governments disagree on some issues, there are many issues that they agree on and the relationship between Namibia and the U.S. continues to grow. Ambassador Nesbitt professed appreciation for Namibia’s cry about being categorized an upper middle-income country, but she is of the opinion that Namibia offers many opportunities, especially in the private sector and she will continue to assist where she can. Nesbitt is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service and holds the rank of career minister. She has served in six African countries and before coming to Namibia she was the U.S. Ambassador to the Ivory Coast, where she was deeply involved in efforts to promote a resolution to an ongoing political crisis.
She is expected to take up a position at home as Vice President of the National Defence University in Washington D.C., where her role will be to help students to understand diplomacy in national security. She leaves Namibia next week Tuesday.
By Tonateni Shidhudhu