Extract: A phoenix in the midst of the storm

During the year 2022, I took on the most difficult assignment of my life when I accepted to be the returning officer of the Swapo Party congress. I took the assignment at a time when the confidence of people in the electoral process of my country was at its lowest. It was required of me to perform the possible and restore hope, amidst the impossibility. What appeared to have been a task accomplished turned into a nightmare when I released a list that was neither verified nor certified.Upon realising the mistake, panic rather than fear started to engulf me. What I could not understand is why it failed to cripple my thinking capacity. It rather brought out the best in me – the best I had not known existed. Admitting my mistake came naturally as I realised the Party I was dealing with.Swapo Party has been and ought to continue to be the governing party, and as such, it has a responsibility to produce leaders who adore service to the country and nation. I have been walking freely in this country and wanted to continue to do so for the remainder of my life. My conscience tells me that I did the most noble thing. When I was young, my old lady would always impress upon me to tell the truth, as it has the ability to liberate oneself. Personal freedom, as I have learned from an early age, is the highest form of freedom.The task before me was a mammoth one, and accepting it would prove to be equally challenging. I knew that my writings in defence of the sitting head of state might give rise to conspiracy theories. I wish to state that I defended the president and the presidency based on principle, hence my relationship to him, up to this day, being that of a president and a subject (citizen). On the other hand, I had to starve the conspiracy theories, which flourished when the appointment was being discussed, of my being sympathetic to this or that camp. I had to remain in the middle of the storm if I had to enter a mental asylum and leave it sane. (Nixon Marcus)On Wednesday, in the highest office, surrounded by all the candidates and past and present leaders, my confidence in the head of state was affirmed and confirmed when Alec Boois proclaimed that he displayed statesmanship when he allowed all to vent and at the same time voluntarily absorbed the anger on my behalf. When it dawned on her that I might be telling the truth, Mee Sophia Shaningwa’s demeanour towards me changed, crowned by her tight motherly hug on the 6th of December in front of the newly sworn-in members of the central committee.On the day of the announcement of the genuine list of central committee members, what played through my mind when I went to sleep was the off-the-cuff speech by Mee Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. After her speech, the security detail christened me Julius Nyerere. Those who shares the same language like the author, regarded those remarks, as their ticket come 2024.My conviction that my conduct was honourable was reaffirmed by Desmond Amunyela, who called me on 6 December and insisted that I hold on to the dignity he discovered I had. I am mentioning this because I also discovered his dignity by calling me and requesting that I let bygones be bygones.When the mistake became apparent, I not only knew that I did the right thing, but I also discovered that my country’s future is bright when my team, which represented all ethnic groups, failed to disown me throughout the week in November. They could easily have chosen the usual human game of detaching themselves from what started to appear as a crisis of Shakespearean proportions.Either my ancestors were with me, or, as my sister Dama said when it started raining during the verification, even God agreed that we did the right thing indeed.As I administered the oath to the newly elected members of the central committee, I realised that I am just a sinner who had felt the hand of God firmly on my shoulders. I will forever remain sorry for the error and appreciative for having been accorded the chance to truthfully and objectively correct the error.Through all of this, I realised we all have been given the ability to silence the storm. I am happy that I eventually became the VAR Kadhila Amoomo said I would become.I remain indebted to the Almighty Father and the Christian values that govern this beautiful nation.

Extract: A phoenix in the midst of the storm

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Extract: A phoenix in the midst of the storm

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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