Shaningwa wields the long knives

The new Swapo secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa is accused of orchestrating a purge designed to demote local authority councillors judged to have opposed her election at the ruling party's congress last week.

On the City of Windhoek council, Shaningwa has directed that deputy mayor Fransina Kahungu be demoted to an ordinary councillor and replaced with Teckla Uwanga.

The secretary-general also asked changes to be made to the management committee of the City of Windhoek.

The youthful Emmanuel Paulus was demoted from being a member of the management committee to an ordinary councillor. Paulus was replaced by Loide Kaiyamo. Both Paulus and Kahungu supported President Hage Geingob's rivals at the sixth Swapo congress.

Shaningwa, who defeated Oshikoto regional coordinator Armas Amukwiyu, was part of the Geingob slate.

Shaningwa also asked the office-bearers to retain Muesee Kazapua as mayor of the City of Windhoek.

Kazapua is now serving three uninterrupted years as City of Windhoek mayor following his first election in 2014 when he took over from Agnes Kafula.

The management committee of the City will still be headed by Matheus Amadhila for another year, with long-serving councillor Moses Shiikwa, Matrid Ukeva, Agatha Iiyambo and Kaiyamo completing the line-up.

Swapo councillors serving on local authority councils are accountable to the party's district executive committees and do not report directly to the secretariat of the ruling party.

The new City of Windhoek council was sworn in on Friday.

At Walvis Bay, Swapo has demoted deputy mayor Hilka Erastus to an ordinary councillor, while the chairperson of the management committee Tobias Nambala will also be removed from his high-profile council seat.

Nambala will become an ordinary councillor and will be replaced by current management committee member Ndishoshili Nghilumbwa. The youthful Nghilumbwa campaigned strongly for Geingob and his slate prior to the Swapo elective congress.





Ordinary councillor Penelope Martin is expected to take over as deputy mayor from Erastus.

The Walvis Bay swearing-in ceremony will take place tomorrow, Namibian Sun understands.

Approached for comment, Nambala accused the Swapo national leadership of sowing division.

“This similar directive was forwarded in 2015 by Cde Mbumba (former Swapo SG Nangolo Mbumba) and it was discussed at congress and agreed that the constitutional violations should stop, but it is a bad precedent if it is allowed by those in executive positions of the party. That causes unnecessary division and it is bad going forward.

“The SG should really exercise leadership irrespective of how much she does not approve of other comrades' existence on this God-given earth,” he said.

At Tsumeb, Swapo demoted mayor Veueza Kasiringua to an ordinary councillor, with Mathews Hangula named as her replacement.

Defensive

Shaningwa, who is barely a week in office, defended the party's decision to effect changes at some local authorities, saying there was no truth to purge claims.

“I don't know who was supporting me and who was not. It is not the first time such changes are being made. Those people are still council members and changes were only made in the leadership,” she told Namibian Sun at the weekend.

Shaningwa who served as line minister responsible for local and regional authorities, however, called for the status quo to remain at other towns countrywide.

She asked towns in Ohangwena, the two Kavango regions, Zambezi, Omusati, Oshana, Kunene, //Karas, Hardap, Omaheke and Otjozondjupa to ensure that they maintain the status quo.

“Subsequent to my circular letter to all Swapo Party regional coordinators, dated 30 November 2017, I hereby direct the regional offices herein cited that the status quo should remain and that you should proceed with the process of swearing in of the local authority office-bearers,” she said.



STAFF REPORTER