Councillors defy Shaningwa

A group of Swapo councillors at Rundu are planning to boycott today's town council office-bearer elections due to uncertainty over whether mayor Verna Sinimbo will accompany her husband to India, where he is to serve as ambassador.

They have also indicated that they will defy Swapo secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa's instruction that the council leadership should remain as is.

The councillors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they would only take part in the elections if all issues were ironed out pertaining to Sinimbo, and if Swapo would allow them to follow party procedures instead of directives from the SG.

President Hage Geingob recently appointed the mayor's husband, permanent secretary Gabriel Sinimbo, as the country's new ambassador to India.

“We are all aware that the mayor's husband is going to India, and as we are talking to you, we don't know if she is going with him or not. We understand she is getting diplomatic training, so why is it that she might be staying?” the councillors asked.

Sinimbo is said to be as a close ally of Shaningwa and the councillors feel the mayor's interest will always be secured because of their relationship.

Sinimbo also made headlines last year when she was delegated by the party's Rundu rural district to attend the Swapo elective congress, when in fact she is a member of the Rundu urban district.

She was subsequently elected onto the Swapo central committee. These and other discrepancies now form part of an unfolding High Court battle in which a grouping is seeking to have last year's elective congress declared unconstitutional, unlawful or invalid.

The group also want the results of the Swapo top four and central committee elections set aside.

The court battle comes nearly a year after an unprecedented bruising campaign and congress, which saw Geingob and his slate under the Team Harambee banner contesting against a faction that called itself Team Swapo.



'Personal decisions'

When contacted for comment, Sinimbo said she did not owe any fellow councillor an explanation, and only reported to Swapo.

“Those are personal decisions. Why should one announce whether I am going or staying? That is for me and my husband and the party, so I don't owe any explanation to any councillor because we are all there on a party ticket. If there was any decision taken, it was communicated to the party,” Sinimbo said.

She said the concerned councillors should seek clarity directly from her, if they so wish.









Rundu has been making headlines recently due to its water debt, its filthiness and its inability to provide serviced land and houses to its residents, which the councillors are partly blaming on Sinimbo's “dictatorship leadership style”.

“As much as we are all equal councillors of the Rundu town council, most decisions are influenced by the mayor; it's either her way or the highway. We cannot allow that to happen any longer,” the councillors said.

Apart from concerns over Sinimbo's leadership, the concerned councillors also want to know which party rules and procedures gave Shaningwa the power to “dish out” directives.

“In the rules and procedure book of the Swapo Party, nowhere does it talk about the secretary-general issuing directives; in fact, it gives us the guidelines for how office-bearers are elected. We are tired of being dictated to; we are on the ground and we know what is best for our town,” the councillors said.

The councillors told Namibian Sun that they were only informed of Shaningwa's directive this week.

They said Swapo Kavango East regional coordinator Otillie Shinduvi showed them a letter on her cellphone and read the content to them.

It is believed that Shaningwa gave Shinduvi strict instructions that the letter should not end up in the hands of any third parties.

When contacted for comment, Shinduvi said she was not in her office and was therefore unaware of today's election.

She said all she did was inform the councillors about the directive and that they should pick a date to hold their office-bearer elections.

“The office is not yet informed, we just gave them the directive and told them that they could come up with the date,” Shinduvi said.

She said she was not aware of any unhappiness.

Shaningwa confirmed she had issued the directive, but refused to entertain any further questions.

“Swapo has given a directive and if there is any communication or diversion from the directive, then I don't think it should be dealt with through newspapers,” she said.

KENYA KAMBOWE