Swapo must outlive its members
Swapo is in the midst of probably its toughest spell of post-independence existence. The mushrooming of the independent candidates phenomenon, almost all of whom are Swapo members, points to a party hanging onto dear life by its fingernails. More dangerous is the fact that such independent candidates have often refused to surrender their membership to the party, prompting extraordinary scenes last year when two party members Hage Geingob and Panduleni Itula both contested for State House. What is even more extraordinary is that the independent candidacy agenda is driven and trumped by, for example, leaders of the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement, whose own leaders have seemingly not surrendered their membership to the party against which they field candidates at every opportunity.
This critical moral question cannot be answered without bringing into sharper focus the status of unity in Swapo over the past couple of years. It would seem that the independent candidacy syndrome has picked up pace at a time when factionalism has taken its toll on the party and divisions have widened into unprecedented cracks. Surely, this cannot be a mere coincidence.
Factions in the party must put their egos and individualities aside and start showing more care for the institution itself. Leaders must swallow their pride and put the party first for its own sake. If this downward spiral continues, Swapo is in real danger of not only losing ground, but also of extinction. The United National Independence Party (UNIP), which governed Zambia from 1964 to 1991 under the socialist presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, does not even have a single seat in the Zambian National Assembly as we speak. Arrogance and an unwillingness to listen to logic are what have gotten UNIP on its tired knees today.
Swapo, if it still has the appetite to soldier on, must put factionalism to bed and start accommodating all its members as children of the same house who must all contribute towards invigorating the party that once dominated the political turf.
This critical moral question cannot be answered without bringing into sharper focus the status of unity in Swapo over the past couple of years. It would seem that the independent candidacy syndrome has picked up pace at a time when factionalism has taken its toll on the party and divisions have widened into unprecedented cracks. Surely, this cannot be a mere coincidence.
Factions in the party must put their egos and individualities aside and start showing more care for the institution itself. Leaders must swallow their pride and put the party first for its own sake. If this downward spiral continues, Swapo is in real danger of not only losing ground, but also of extinction. The United National Independence Party (UNIP), which governed Zambia from 1964 to 1991 under the socialist presidency of Kenneth Kaunda, does not even have a single seat in the Zambian National Assembly as we speak. Arrogance and an unwillingness to listen to logic are what have gotten UNIP on its tired knees today.
Swapo, if it still has the appetite to soldier on, must put factionalism to bed and start accommodating all its members as children of the same house who must all contribute towards invigorating the party that once dominated the political turf.
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