Windhoek
Visiting Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keїta, whose country has been wracked by terrorism instigated by Islamist militants, has requested Namibia’s support in their fight against terrorists.
Keïta made the plea on Friday at State House, shortly after arriving in the country for Namibia’s 26th independence anniversary celebrations.
In 2012, Mali was attacked by terrorists and Namibia was among the first African countries to assist Mali.
Keïta stated that with the support of the Algerian government and others in the international community they held peace talks,
but which are somehow threatened by those against peace and threats of terrorists in the region.
“It is a gentle request that we are now addressing to Namibia in order to have the support of your country and the sub-region urgently, in line with reviewing the peace mandate in Mali,” he said through an interpreter.
“It is really an emergency situation that we are experiencing in Mali. One can see how children are assassinated in our sub-region and how peacekeepers are killed daily. With the G5 countries of the sub-region we are trying to rejuvenate forces and resources in order to face security threats and threats to our common values,” stated the Malian leader.
He explained that G5 is a group of countries consisting of Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Mali, formed as a military reaction to threats of deadly militancy.
Keïta added that they need to improve their forces and resources to gain the support of all parts of Africa so that they overcome the threats and concentrate on the development of their countries, instead of trying to fight terrorists.
The Malian president also said that the aim of the visit is to see how the two African countries can come together and deepen their bilateral cooperation in the common areas of agriculture.
In terms of bilateral agreements, Keïta said they need to instruct government ministries to assess the scope of cooperation and explore all opportunities to increase the level of commitment and engagement in the field of bilateral cooperation in the interest of the two countries. Namibia and Mali both have a booming mining sector.
“I hereby take the engagement and commitment of Mali to be totally available to go in that direction to come up with a promising future for the two countries,” said Keïta.
President Hage Geingob said if countries are attacked and invaded by terrorists they can’t develop and for that reason Namibia was among the first countries to send a message of solidarity when Mali was attacked.
Geingob said he did the same when Ivory Coast was attacked.
“We must hold hands and address the issue of terrorism. We would like to acknowledge your leadership in negotiating peace agreements; you are saying you are threatened but we must make sure your efforts succeed. We want people to have peace and deliver good service,” said Geingob.
He added that the two African countries should cooperate and address issues of poverty, and provide the basic necessities that their people dearly need.
Though Geingob did not promise to send NDF troops to help Mali fight the insurgency, NDF troops have in the past participated in peacekeeping missions across Africa and elsewhere.