Looming Swapo ‘pot’ ignites constitutional debate

Swapo faces a stern test on how its 10 presidential nominees for parliament will be selected at the upcoming electoral college, a prerogative constitutionally reserved for the party president – a position that is currently vacant.Party vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is currently leading the party following the death of party president Hage Geingob on 4 February.Swapo is expected to hold its electoral college later this year, during which members will be elected to fill 96 seats in the National Assembly.They will be selected from over 200 delegates and will feature on the party’s parliament list for the National Assembly election scheduled for November.Swapo&#039;s top-four leaders – namely the president, vice-president, secretary general and deputy secretary general – automatically secure seats to the National Assembly, while the rest of the delegates have to battle it out for the remaining places.In addition to votes cast at the electoral congress, rule 52.3 of Swapo&#039;s rules and procedures for electing office-bearers mandates the party president to nominate 10 additional people for parliament. The 10 can include eligible members who did not make the list or who are placed at the tail end of the list and are deemed to have little chance of making it into parliament on their own.Looking backThere is currently confusion within the party, which decided to postpone its extraordinary congress to April 2025, about whether a vice-president is authorised to make such nominations.A similar situation occurred at the 2019 electoral college, where the acting president of the party at the time, Geingob, presided after the elected leader, Hifikepunye Pohamba, abruptly quit and handed over the reins to his number two.Although he was not elected as such, Geingob declared himself president of the party and selected 10 presidential nominees using that self-declared power – a situation that Nandi-Ndaitwah is likely to exploit this year.Nandi-Ndaitwah&#039;s supporters in the party say she is empowered by Article 16 (3) of the Swapo constitution, which states that the party’s vice-president shall exercise the same powers and carry out all the duties and functions of the president in the absence of the president.This implies that if Swapo goes to its electoral college without having had an extraordinary congress and elects a president for the party, Nandi-Ndaitwah will have to appoint 10 people onto the party’s list of 96 members for the National Assembly elections.Rules, proceduresAccording to the party&#039;s rules and procedure on election of office bearers’ rule 56.3, the 10 presidential appointees are integrated into the party’s list from position 20 up to 40.With Swapo&#039;s electoral fortunes having declined in 2019 and 2020, there is fear among some Swapo members that the party might not secure enough seats this year and that those elected might lose out on a parliamentary seat to those hand-picked as presidential nominees.Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa poured cold water over fears of a constitutional crisis, saying Nandi-Ndaitwah will derive her powers from Article 16 (3).But some have accused the party of applying the constitution selectively, pointing to the failure to hold an extraordinary congress within 90 days after Geingob’s death as a case in point.“If the party’s constitution is the supreme law, why are we not having an extraordinary congress? This clearly shows you that they only want to use the constitution to their advantage but not when it matters most,” said a Swapo member who preferred to remain anonymous.Article 15 (9) of the party’s constitution requires that, under circumstances such as the death of the party head, the central committee – the highest decision-making body between congresses – must call an elective extraordinary congress within three months.The postponement of the extraordinary congress to 2025 is being challenged in a new High Court application brought by party members Reinhold Shipwikineni, Petrus Shituula, Joshua Martins, Erich Shivute and Aina Angula. The five are represented by lawyer Richard Metcalfe.“If the party loses its case, how will the electorate trust us with their votes if we don’t believe in our own party constitution?" the Swapo member added.Position seekersPolitical commentator and Swapo member Stephanus Pombili accused those who support the ‘molestation’ of the Swapo constitution of singing Nandi-Ndaitwah&#039;s praises because they are seeking positions.Pombili said the constitution is clear: Nandi-Ndaitwah, as the vice-president, can only act as president if there are six months remaining until an elective congress. With the next Swapo congress more than three years away, he claimed that the vice-president holds no power.“The majority of those that are supporting this lawlessness in Swapo are people who want positions,” he argued.kenya@namibiansun.com

Looming Swapo ‘pot’ ignites constitutional debate

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-03

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Looming Swapo ‘pot’ ignites constitutional debate

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-03

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