Netumbo blames opposition for country ‘paralysis’

Swapo vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says the opposition in charge of the City of Windhoek and the southern regions have paralysed the country.

The Swapo presidential candidate in the 2024 election said those who made the ‘mistake’ of voting Swapo out of those areas have now learnt their lesson and will never repeat it again.

Swapo was voted out of the 15-seat Windhoek municipal council, retaining only five seats and leaving the rest in the hands of the opposition.

An opposition coalition at the City of Windhoek, calling itself ‘Progressive Forces’, took over the capital’s leadership through the occupation of management committee positions as well as that of mayor and deputy mayor.

The coalition soon disintegrated amid bickering and insults, compromising service delivery in the process. The City has remained without a chief executive officer during the three years the opposition has been in charge.

Swapo also lost the southern Hardap and //Karas regions to the Landless People’s Movement after elections held in 2020.

Speaking at Oneshoko village in the Oshana Region’s Okaku constituency, ahead of a by-election this Friday, Nandi-Ndaitwah charged that Windhoek and the two southern regions have become ‘paralysed’.

A new Okaku constituency regional councillor is due to be elected this week after the death of Gerson Hannu Kapenda.

'No direction'

“They removed Swapo and gave Windhoek to people without direction.”

“Windhoek is the seat of government but it has no governance. Do you want the same to happen in Okaku?" she asked.

“Windhoek residents will never make the same mistake again next year. They have learnt from their mistake.”

Nandi-Ndaitwah further blamed the opposition for the effects of floods experienced in the capital late last year – in which several homeless children died.

“Last year, it rained for less than 10 minutes and the whole city was flooded because there’s no one to manage the drainage system,” the international relations minister said.

“When did you ever hear Windhoek flooded [when Swapo was in charge]? We are in hell. Recently, it was dirty all over. You wouldn’t even believe it’s the capital city,” she said.

“They [voters] removed a party that has direction. Now they are in trouble and they will not repeat the same mistake again.”

She went on to say that "the same applies to //Karas, which is one of the economic hearts of our country. There’s no governance in that region and its municipalities are paralysed. Swapo is the only party to bring about development".

Vote Netumbo

Meanwhile, Swapo secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa called upon Okaku residents to ensure that Nandi-Ndaitwah is the country’s next president.

She told the crowd that come national elections in 2024, many political parties will take part in hopes to see their candidates voted into the presidential seat.

“All the Swapo Party members here and elsewhere, you are called upon and summoned to see to it that it is only Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah who should follow President Hage Geingob and no one else,” she said to loud applause.

Shaningwa also told those in attendance that Geingob made it clear that he throws his weight behind Nandi-Ndaitwah, who should be his successor.

“He made it categorically clear that Nandi-Ndaitwah is the person to take over after him,” she said.