Ekandjo still ready to serve at 79, lambasts young MPs

Former cabinet minister and senior Swapo figure Jerry Ekandjo says he remains ready to serve the ruling party at 79, arguing that older leaders bring more maturity and discipline to parliament than many younger lawmakers.

Speaking in an interview on Network Media Hub's 'The Agenda', which aired on Sunday, Ekandjo said he would still accept nominations for leadership positions within Swapo if called upon, despite his advanced age.

“Yes, at 79,” he said.

“Some may argue and say it’s an old man. But if you compare our earlier parliaments to the current parliament, there were more older people before. Those were mature people knowing what they wanted,” he said.

Ekandjo criticised the current parliament, claiming that political infighting among younger lawmakers has slowed legislative progress.

“The whole year went by without any bill being passed except the Appropriation Bill, because if they don’t pass it, they will not get salaries,” he said.

The veteran politician also blamed what he termed “state politics” for weakening Swapo’s dominance at local authority level, saying the rise of opposition movements such as IPC, LPM and AR had divided former Swapo members.

“All those from AR [Affirmative Repositioning], LPM [Landless Popular Movement] and IPC [Independent Patriots for Change] were Swapo Youth League members,” he said, adding that many opposition figures could eventually return to the ruling party if democratic centralism is reintroduced.

Public trust at risk

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has also expressed concern about the pace and effectiveness of parliament’s work, noting that only two of the nine bills considered over the past year were passed despite rising public expectations.

Speaking at the official opening of the third session of parliament in February, Nandi-Ndaitwah said several key bills were tabled and debated, yet only two budget-related bills were ultimately enacted.

She described the outcome as disappointing, given the urgency of Namibia’s socio-economic challenges.

The president warned that weak legislative output undermines service delivery and erodes public confidence in elected institutions.

Over the past year, parliament considered legislation including the Appropriation Bill, the Land Bill, the Mental Health Bill, the Regional Councils Amendment Bill and the Public Enterprises Governance Amendment Bill, among others.

“Of all these nine bills, only two budget-related bills went through, which is very disappointing, because the people of Namibia deserve better services from their elected representatives,” the president said.

She said she expects the situation to improve in the second year of the eighth Parliament, noting that citizens look to parliament to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of lawmaking.

Meanwhile, IPC leader Panduleni Itula said no law will pass unscrutinised in parliament as long as his party serves as the official opposition.

During an IPC event in Walvis Bay four months ago, he said the opposition’s role is to scrutinise every bill brought before the National Assembly.

“There is a need to scrutinise because our constitutional Article 41 says that ministers shall be accountable to parliament," he noted, adding: "We are not going to have tissue paper bills brought in and passed tomorrow”.

Traditional authority independence

Ekandjo also weighed in on the growing debate around the role of government in traditional authority disputes, saying chiefs can never be fully independent while they remain under government control and receive state support.

“The moment chiefs depend on the government, automatically the government will say, ‘Do ABC’,” he said.

He argued that ministers intervene in traditional authority matters because legislation gives them the powers, including the authority to summon chiefs.

“Why cannot we detach them completely and say, ‘Chiefs, you are on your own’?” he asked.

Ekandjo said traditional leaders should operate independently from government, with communities financially supporting their own chiefs instead of relying on state allowances and intervention.

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