Vote of confidence

The bitterly-contested Swapo vote ended in an overwhelming victory for President Hage Geingob and his running mates, while his supporters also made a clean sweep of the powerful central committee. Geingob's rivals, who include Nahas Angula, Jerry Ekandjo and Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, and other prominent politicians aligned to the now defunct Team Swapo, did not make the cut. For the presidency, Geingob received a significant 574 votes, while his closest rival Ekandjo got 154. Angula managed a paltry 39 votes. In the vice-presidency contest, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah secured 552 votes compared to the 194 amassed by challenger Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, while Helmut Angula managed a measly 20 votes. There was also no victory for the youthful Oshikoto coordinator Armas Amukwiyu who was standing against urban and rural development minister Sophia Shaningwa for the secretary-general position. Shaningwa beat Amukwiyu with 523 votes against 243 votes. The deputy secretary-general contest also saw Marco Hausiku who was a running mate of Geingob clinching a resounding victory against Petrina Haingura and Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun. Hausiku received 545 votes, while Haingura managed 118, with Namundjebo-Tilahun securing 102 votes. Geingob supporters also received thunderous applause and ululations when returning officer Sisa Namandje announced the outcome of the central committee elections just after 05:00 yesterday morning. Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was named top of the list with a massive 628 votes, followed by deputy minister of economic planning Lucia Iipumbu and deputy gender minister Lucia Witbooi. The male list was headed by Hausiku, agriculture minister John Mutorwa, while Geingob who is now an automatic central committee member got 472 votes. He was followed by former secretary-general Nangolo Mbumba and Pohamba Shifeta. Geingob and his running mates' campaign was backed by all three wings of the ruling party, namely the youth, elder's and women's council. His supporters in cabinet also performed relatively well in the central committee election. The likes of Angula and Ekandjo have in the past topped the Swapo central committee list. However this time around there was also no place for their supporters like former cabinet ministers Richard Kamwi, Isak Katali and current deputy minister of fisheries Chief Samuel Ankama. The likes of Joel Kaapanda, David Namwandi Paulus Kapia failed to make the cut. Cabinet ministers such Erkki Nghimtina and Immanuel Ngatjizeko are also not part of the new central committee. Hage's timePolitical commentator Graham Hopwood believes the significant Geingob victory was a major vote of confidence within the party. “He will now have the critical confidence to put his foot down and push through policies such as the Harambee Prosperity Plan,” he said. “This also gives him the mandate to choose his own team so we are likely to see a cabinet reshuffle in the following days. This will certainly improve government's efficiency. What happened in the last two years was largely influenced by the distraction of this congress.” Another commentator Uazuva Kaumbi said he was surprised by the outcome. “It was beyond expectation. I thought they would go neck and neck,” said Kaumbi. “The message of one centre of power certainly went out and the members responded overwhelmingly. But one can see that Swapo is changing now. If you look at some messages from Team Swapo, it was if Swapo has a traditional support base which is the northern communities. And they thought they could support on that tribal base, but you can see the support base is changing. Keep in mind that for the first time Swapo has a non-Oshiwambo president, in other words he is no longer Pohamba's protégé. Let us see this as Hage's early Christmas present, but let's hope he does not over celebrate, but that he will take the mandate from the people and extend an olive branch to his opponents. Hopefully they can bury every negative word.” JEMIMA BEUKES

Vote of confidence

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-08

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Vote of confidence

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-08

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