EDITORIAL: Free Kunene from Sankwasa’s ego

Swapo, as the governing party, cannot afford to remain a bystander in the standoff between urban and rural development minister Sankwasa James Sankwasa and the Kunene Regional Council.

Whatever the merits of the legal dispute over the contract of the council's chief regional officer, it cannot justify paralysing an entire region.

Residents should not be denied development. Council employees should not go unpaid. Elected councillors should not be left without salaries because of an administrative impasse that is now before the courts.

Government exists to serve citizens, not to make them collateral damage in institutional disputes.

The irony is that Swapo invested significant political capital in Kunene only two years ago. When former PDM parliamentarian Vipuakuje Muharukua crossed the floor to join the ruling party, the move was celebrated as a major political breakthrough in a region where Swapo has traditionally struggled to secure broad electoral support. His swift appointment as governor underscored the strategic importance the party attached to Kunene, even at the expense of long-serving party members who had expected recognition for their loyalty.

Yet whatever political gains that appointment may have yielded risk being undone if the region remains starved of resources.

Ordinary residents are unlikely to judge government by political appointments. They will judge it by whether roads are maintained, services are delivered, and development projects proceed.

Even if Sankwasa's position on the chief regional officer's contract ultimately proves to be legally sound, withholding approval for the regional council's budget is a disproportionate response. The dispute concerns one employment matter. The consequences are being borne by an entire region.

The rule of law provides mechanisms for resolving disagreements. Courts exist precisely for that purpose. As the party leading government, Swapo has both the authority and the moral responsibility to intervene.