Nelongo breathes life into Uuvudhiya
Samuel Nelongo has undertaken to sort out the challenges and disagreements in his constituency, bringing hope to residents.
Swapo Oshana regional coordinator Samuel Nelongo has given party members hope in the Uuvudhiya constituency after years of infighting and allegations of manipulation of conference elections.
There was a positive vibe at Saturday's meeting at Omapopo in the Uuvudhiya constituency, where Nelongo had gone to see party members after they wrote a letter to him on 19 February about chaos and irregularities within the constituency. In the letter, Nelongo was reminded of how Oskar Shatumbu Eitaalo, the chairperson of the Alusati section, who was not contested for the Swapo Omapopo district coordinator position, but was later challenged by Timoteus Shivute, who was delegated to preside over the same branch elections. It is said Shivute was then elected as Omapopo branch coordinator and thereafter continued with his presiding role, something the complainants say is unconstitutional. Questions were also asked about how Louis Amweelo, the Omapopo branch mobiliser who was nominated as a delegate to last year's Sixth Swapo Congress, was later replaced by Aili Shuuya from the Onakapya branch.
“Comrade Nelongo, the Swapo Party is a movement for its entire members and it cannot be run as a soup kitchen. It has to be led and administered in accordance with its laws, which is the Swapo Party Constitution,” the letter read.
It was on this note the complainants demand that the branch to be restructured and that the regional executive committee establish a committee which should oversee elections.
At the meeting it was also pointed out that the Uuvudhiya constituency ended up not part taking in any of the party wings' regional conferences in Oshana, which was said to be due to irregularities within structures at branch level. This saw Swapo members, especially the youth from Omapopo, Onakapya and Onaushe, writing several petitions to Nelongo's predecessor, Erastus Kapolo, requesting for their concerns to be looked at, but nothing was done.
Kapolo is said to have ignored these calls and kept the petitions in his office.
At Saturday's meeting Nelongo told the crowd he will not shift the blame to his predecessor, but will instead work on the issues and tackle them head-on.
“I am here today because of this petition. You wrote it before I took office but that is not what we are going to focus on. In Swapo, when you take office, you do not start afresh but you continue with what you found in that office,” Nelongo said. The meeting was divided into two sessions, with a general information sharing session taking place first, where Nelongo schooled the audience about the party and how elections should be conducted.
He then later met with only those who had written to him.
After a nearly to two-hour long speech, the audience congratulated Nelongo for sharing information with them, while indirectly telling him that the local leadership had failed to communicate with them on how things should be done.
“Thank you, comrade Nelongo for not being stingy with information about the party; now we know how things should be done. People with certain knowledge must always share. For many years we took part in elections but we were not informed about our rights and what we must do and not do,” an old lady said. Former Uuvudhiya constituency Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary, Absalom Itamalo, was also one of those that thanked Nelongo for coming to the people and giving them the answers they seek. “Never in Uuvudhiya did we have such a fruitful meeting where no one was threatened or mistreated. This just shows you what a great leader Nelongo is. He faced the people and that is how a leader should be. A leader is not just one who can write well and respond to letters, he must go to his people and listen to them, create a bond and only through that, you will know what they want,” Itamalo said.
He said Saturday's meeting only focused on Omapopo, while adding that similar irregularities are being experienced at the Onaushe Swapo branch, where he hails from, which he says still needs to be addressed.
Namibian Sun has been reliably informed that the meeting between Nelongo and the authors of the letter went well, and that they were granted and assurance that the Omapopo branch will be restructured later this year.
KENYA KAMBOWE
There was a positive vibe at Saturday's meeting at Omapopo in the Uuvudhiya constituency, where Nelongo had gone to see party members after they wrote a letter to him on 19 February about chaos and irregularities within the constituency. In the letter, Nelongo was reminded of how Oskar Shatumbu Eitaalo, the chairperson of the Alusati section, who was not contested for the Swapo Omapopo district coordinator position, but was later challenged by Timoteus Shivute, who was delegated to preside over the same branch elections. It is said Shivute was then elected as Omapopo branch coordinator and thereafter continued with his presiding role, something the complainants say is unconstitutional. Questions were also asked about how Louis Amweelo, the Omapopo branch mobiliser who was nominated as a delegate to last year's Sixth Swapo Congress, was later replaced by Aili Shuuya from the Onakapya branch.
“Comrade Nelongo, the Swapo Party is a movement for its entire members and it cannot be run as a soup kitchen. It has to be led and administered in accordance with its laws, which is the Swapo Party Constitution,” the letter read.
It was on this note the complainants demand that the branch to be restructured and that the regional executive committee establish a committee which should oversee elections.
At the meeting it was also pointed out that the Uuvudhiya constituency ended up not part taking in any of the party wings' regional conferences in Oshana, which was said to be due to irregularities within structures at branch level. This saw Swapo members, especially the youth from Omapopo, Onakapya and Onaushe, writing several petitions to Nelongo's predecessor, Erastus Kapolo, requesting for their concerns to be looked at, but nothing was done.
Kapolo is said to have ignored these calls and kept the petitions in his office.
At Saturday's meeting Nelongo told the crowd he will not shift the blame to his predecessor, but will instead work on the issues and tackle them head-on.
“I am here today because of this petition. You wrote it before I took office but that is not what we are going to focus on. In Swapo, when you take office, you do not start afresh but you continue with what you found in that office,” Nelongo said. The meeting was divided into two sessions, with a general information sharing session taking place first, where Nelongo schooled the audience about the party and how elections should be conducted.
He then later met with only those who had written to him.
After a nearly to two-hour long speech, the audience congratulated Nelongo for sharing information with them, while indirectly telling him that the local leadership had failed to communicate with them on how things should be done.
“Thank you, comrade Nelongo for not being stingy with information about the party; now we know how things should be done. People with certain knowledge must always share. For many years we took part in elections but we were not informed about our rights and what we must do and not do,” an old lady said. Former Uuvudhiya constituency Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary, Absalom Itamalo, was also one of those that thanked Nelongo for coming to the people and giving them the answers they seek. “Never in Uuvudhiya did we have such a fruitful meeting where no one was threatened or mistreated. This just shows you what a great leader Nelongo is. He faced the people and that is how a leader should be. A leader is not just one who can write well and respond to letters, he must go to his people and listen to them, create a bond and only through that, you will know what they want,” Itamalo said.
He said Saturday's meeting only focused on Omapopo, while adding that similar irregularities are being experienced at the Onaushe Swapo branch, where he hails from, which he says still needs to be addressed.
Namibian Sun has been reliably informed that the meeting between Nelongo and the authors of the letter went well, and that they were granted and assurance that the Omapopo branch will be restructured later this year.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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