EDITORIAL: Netumbo’s team miscalculated

On Saturday, the Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah campaign team used murder convict Paulus ‘Ninja’ Shimweefeleni in a video inviting members of the public to a party mobilisation event in Khomasdal.

The video, which evoked anger in some quarters, had the Netumbo campaign logo in it - but Ninja did the talking. This was in bad taste, and showcased a shocking lack of judgment on the part of those who thought it was wise to use Ninja as an ‘influencer’ to lure voters to the party.

Swapo has many influential personalities within its rank and file. People with neither robbery nor murder on their records. But on the day, they were elbowed to the fringes to make space for a man whose only claim to ‘fame’ is murder. Ninja is a Namibian citizen, and he is entitled to enjoy full political rights. If he, in his private capacity, wants to use the current hype around him to lure voters to Swapo, it’s his birth right. But when he is used in official campaigns of potentially Namibia’s next president, it’s nauseating. What moral standing will Swapo have to tell us that it will fight the current rampant crime in the country when a convicted killer and serial robber is its poster boy? He is being dangled in our faces as if he has come down from the mount with tablets of stone. If Swapo wants a Moses to save it from dwindling support, Ninja is - at best - a Judas who betrayed the ideals of a free and safe society.