“I will not stop activism”, says Amushelelo

By: Josia Shigwedha

Activist Michael Amushelelo, who was recently released from custody after spending seven months, says despite being advised by his mother to set activism aside and focus on caring for his family, he will continue advocating for social justice.

Amushelelo and fellow activist Dimbulukeni Nauyoma were found not guilty on three counts of public violence, malicious damage to property, and incitement of public violence. As a result, the duo were acquitted of all charges.

Following his release from the Windhoek Correctional facility last Thursday, Amushelelo shared that his cellphone has been ringing non-stop with citizens contacting him about various issues.

"If today I hear there are demonstrators somewhere and they call for Amushelelo, be rest assured that Amushelelo is going to be at the front line leading those people. Be rest assured that I am not going to run. I am going to remain there, and if they are going to arrest me, let them arrest me," remarked Amushelelo.

Amushelelo added: My phone has not stopped ringing. Unfortunately, I do not know what has been happening in the past seven months, but I have not been hearing much of someone standing up (against) worker's rights or high unemployment.... For some other reasons, the country just went mute and pretended like everything is fine, " stated Amushelelo.

When asked to paint his time behind bars, Amushelelo responded that his difficult and unbearable moments were when he was denied contact visits from his wife. However, he stated this changed after a Supreme Court ruling in July this year declared that it is unconstitutional to place problematic prison inmates in solitary confinement, ban contact visits, and transport inmates in vehicles with their arms handcuffed behind their backs.

"It was a sad situation where you have to communicate with your relatives through a glass and you cannot even physically hold them, but people who have been sentenced were allowed to get contact visits, and we said this is unconstitutional. Now when we started receiving those contact visits, they really boosted my morale, especially when I was able to hug my wife and kiss her, as opposed to just kissing her through a glass and holding her hand through a glass".

Amushelelo thanked everyone who supported and encouraged him while in custody by calling radio stations as well as writing short text messages that appeared in newspapers.

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