No doubt about Geingob's support of Nandi-Ndaitwah

There is a video clip making the rounds of our Swapo Party president, Cde Dr Hage Geingob, at a state function, comprising local and international diplomats and other dignitaries, that took place on 29 October.

Since the video started circulating, supposedly showing the president implying that there will be another process or meeting to choose a new candidate for Swapo ahead of the 2024 elections, conspiracy theorists have been at it, taking the president's words out of context.

This is quite laughable.

The video should be seen in the context of the event during which the president was speaking. Otherwise, in its current form, the video should be considered mere propaganda material that does not serve the real interests of Swapo. It merely takes the words of our president out of context to fit a specific narrative.

The president of Swapo, Dr Hage Geingob, is the leader of our movement.

He serves our Party and country with honour and dignity.

He will see through his terms at both the party and country levels to their logical conclusions, as mandated by congress and the Namibian electorate.

‘No ambiguity’

Similarly, at the 7th congress, delegates elected Cde Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as the Swapo vice president.

According to our rules and procedures for electing leaders, which were adopted during the 2007 congress following the divisive 2004 extraordinary congress, in the event that the president is unable to stand as the party candidate due to the country's two-term limits, the rules stipulate that the vice president of Swapo will become the party's candidate in the presidential elections.

There is no contradiction or ambiguity in our rules and procedures, and our president has already pronounced himself on the issues of leadership transition within Swapo on various local and international platforms.

However, since the conclusion of the 7th congress, some individuals have attempted to fabricate news out of thin air, suggesting that the president does not support Cde Nandi-Ndaitwah as the party's candidate and instead favours a different person.

These rumours have been circulating on various platforms, particularly social media, and even among some leaders of our movement. These rumours are devoid of any truth and should be condemned with the contempt they deserve.

They only intend to sow the seeds of suspicion and division among the leadership ahead of an important and historic election for Swapo. President Geingob has publicly gone on record to express his support for the vice president, as all of us as party leaders should do.

As early as December 2022, while answering the report of a local daily, the president congratulated all the candidates and said: “It follows from this that, in accordance with paragraph 53 of the Swapo Party rules and procedures for election of party office-bearers and party representatives at legislative and government levels, Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah is the automatic candidate of the Swapo Party for the presidency of the republic at the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections”.

Equally, last month at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the president issued a similar statement while addressing the assembly.

This clearly demonstrated the confidence that the president has, not just in the party’s internal democratic processes but also in Cde Nandi-Ndaitwah, to continue Swapo's proud legacy.

Stand together

The party only used to hold an extraordinary congress to elect our candidate before the rules and procedures were approved. But, with the existing rules in place, it goes without saying that Cde Nandi-Ndaitwah is the Swapo Party candidate for president in next year’s presidential election.

I call on all Swapo leaders to be on guard to defend the movement and the policy decisions that were taken at the highest platform of the party, which is the congress.

Equally, Swapo leaders at all levels must not perpetuate and authenticate such rumours, and those doing so must cease and desist from such, as this is an act of divisive politics, which in the end may create animosity.

Given our history of breakaway political parties, we cannot afford divisive politics, and unity of purpose must be embraced by all and should be genuine.

Watching the video, what the president referred to could be a management process that must be observed in the near future, where he, as party leader, will – as has been the case historically – hold a formal event to launch our campaign and election manifesto. This event will hand over all instruments to Cde Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as our flag bearer for the upcoming elections.

President Geingob is a champion of democratic dispensation, and both the president and vice president, as the two most senior leaders of our party, enjoy a good relationship that dates back many years while in exile during our liberation war.

Both are committed to the peaceful transition of power as a cornerstone of democratic dispensation.

- Dr Tobie Ocean Aupindi is a member of the central committee of Swapo.