Regional structures ignore Shaningwa’s directive

Kenya Kambowe RUNDUBoth Swapo’s Kavango East and Khomas regional leaderships have defied a 2020 directive by party secretary-general, Sophia Shaningwa, who instructed them to convene an extraordinary conference to elect new mobilisers as the current incumbents are employed full-time in government.In June 2020, Shaningwa wrote to three regional coordinators - Kavango East’s Ottilie Shinduvi, Khomas’ Elliot Mbako and //Karas’ Matheus Mumbala - to carry out the directive.Kavango East’s regional mobiliser Bonifatius Wakudumo was earlier that year appointed as the region’s governor, while the //Karas regional mobiliser at the time, Aletta Fredricks, was also elected as the region’s governor.This while Khomas regional mobiliser Mirjam Onesmus is employed on a full-time basis in the finance ministry.It was on this basis Shaningwa wrote to the coordinators to ensure that they replace these mobilisers.During the course of 2020, meetings were not convened due to the limitations on gatherings prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and as a result, the regions halted the process of replacing the trio.Of the three regions, only //Karas - on 12 June 2021 - adhered to Shaningwa’s directive. Magret Basson was elected as the party’s new regional mobiliser for the region.Basson emerged victorious after she scooped 25 votes while her opponent, Martha Pieters, only managed 13.CriticismNamibian Sun has learnt that late last year, the Swapo Kavango East regional executive committee halted the process of convening an extraordinary regional conference, and decided to carry out the process during the regional conference slated for this June.This decision has, however, been met with criticism as some party members told Namibian Sun that the directive was supposed to already have been carried out.“Not implementing a directive of the party tends to be seen as an insult to the constitution of the party. That is a position for which one can get a salary, which means someone could be doing the party’s work and get that money to improve their livelihood during this pandemic, which has left many people unemployed,” a source argued.They said there is no transparency within the region, with rumours making the rounds that funds from the party’s coffers are being mismanaged in Kavango East.“The only reason why they cannot convene the extraordinary congress is because the region is divided. Mind you, there was a motion of no confidence passed towards the leadership,” the source said.Neither Shinduvi nor Mbako were available for comment, while Shaningwa refused to shed light on the situation yesterday as she “does not speak to the press on Sundays”.kenya@namibiansun.com

Regional structures ignore Shaningwa’s directive

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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Regional structures ignore Shaningwa’s directive

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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