EDITORIAL: Post-2027 unity – The question of Swapo's survival

Maintaining unity in a mass movement like Swapo, especially after an elective congress, is as tricky as catching wind with a mosquito net. It demands more than slogans or exhortations. It requires a process that is fair, transparent and beyond reproach – from nominations to the announcement of results.

People are generally willing to accept outcomes – even bitter losses – when they know the contest was honest. But when the process is perceived as rigged, vindictiveness and disengagement naturally follow. What should be a period of renewal for the party instead becomes a breeding ground for factionalism and dissent.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, in her Sunday interview on The Agenda, rightly sounded the alarm. Her call for unity post-2027 is not mere rhetoric. It is a desperate effort to shield the party from imploding under its own internal divisions. As party leader, she is the crucial buffer between Swapo surviving or fracturing in the years ahead.

Yet cautionary words alone cannot manufacture cohesion. Unity is earned through fairness. If candidates feel they were unfairly denied positions, contempt takes root – and the next question becomes whether it is worth fighting for a victory that benefits only those who rigged the process.

For a party holding a narrow 53% majority, alienating even a fraction of its base could prove catastrophic. Unity is the lifeblood of survival. Post-2027 cohesion will depend on honest contests, transparent procedures and respect for the will of all members. Anything less risks undermining the very majority the party is striving to reclaim.

As Marcus Tullius Cicero passionately taught us, a nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious, but not treason from within. Swapo will struggle to fend off rivals with one hand while grappling with internal fractures with the other.