Otjombinde out of Swapo congress

Swapo has, in an unprecedented move, disqualified the Otjombinde district in the Omaheke Region from participating in the party's 6th elective congress later this year. The politburo meeting held last week also nullified all outcomes of the district's regional conference.About 600 delegates from Swapo branches, wings and affiliates will convene in Windhoek in November to elect a new leadership for the next five years. A well-placed source in the party said the decision is “unconstitutional” but that it was justified by acting Swapo president Hage Geingob who called himself the 'chief executive officer' of the party.“Imagine today it is district, tomorrow it will be a region and next week we will see some members of the central committee barred from the congress,” the source said. Party spokesperson Helmuth Angula said the behaviour of party cadres at the district was “unforgiving” and cannot be condoned in any manner.According to him, some party members threatened the senior party officials from Windhoek. “They were rogue and threatened the senior party leaders with cars and trucks. Usually we have conflict in some party conferences but this was different,” he emphasised. National party leaders were assigned to the regions to supervise the election processes. Swapo regional coordinator in Omaheke, Kejamuina Mungendje said the politburo report is devoid of all truth. “I am not happy with these decisions, what they say happened is not true all. Nowadays the Swapo party has become a police state ruled by one-sided opinions,” he said. He too accused the party top leadership of violating the constitution and making willy-nilly decisions.“We want fairness. You cannot interpret the constitution in order to promote your own interests. It was clear-cut that some leaders assigned to the region had a vested interest in the elections and pushed for their own agendas,” he said. National leaders assigned to Omaheke included fisheries minister Bernard Esau, deputy minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Christine //Hoebes, and deputy home affairs minister Erastus Utoni.The party has since assigned a verification team including party veterans Marco Hausiku and Libertina Amathila and education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa to Omaheke Region to investigate the allegations of misconduct.The politburo directed a verification team along with assigned leaders to the region to continue supervising the re-run of the district conferences of the Aminuis and Okorukambe districts.Geingob has urged party leaders at different regional levels to remain united and vigilant all times. According to him it was the party that fought for and brought democracy and it is therefore its responsibility to practice democracy. “We must be conscious of the fact that we only have one organisation – Swapo. When we contest for positions within the party we must [therefore] protect and safeguard it unconditionally. We must hold hands and march forward for the sake of our party, our country and our people,” he said.JEMIMA BEUKES

Otjombinde out of Swapo congress

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-08

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Otjombinde out of Swapo congress

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-08

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