DIVIDED WE FALL: Swapo’s founding president Sam Nujoma has warned that Swapo cannot afford to be divided. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED
DIVIDED WE FALL: Swapo’s founding president Sam Nujoma has warned that Swapo cannot afford to be divided. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

Nujoma denounces monied campaigns

...Says Swapo cannot afford further factionalism
The Swapo founding president says women and the youth should get a crack at leading the former liberation movement.
Ogone Tlhage
Founding president Sam Nujoma has denounced monetised inter-party factionalism driven by monied campaigns, saying the needs of the party and country must come first.

His remarks were delivered at the Swapo central committee meeting held over the weekend, ahead of the party's elective congress later this year.

The party’s last congress in 2017 remains mired in allegations of some factions' campaigns being funded with Fishrot money, with a trail of bank transactions showing exactly who was funded.

“Just like in any election, let it be done democratically and transparently without using money to buy votes. In the final analysis, the Swapo Party and the people must come first in all we do,” he said.

Nujoma also implored party members not to let internal debates lead to factions within the party, arguing that Swapo has competent members trained to take up any position of authority.

“Let us not allow debates for internal succession to divide us into factions. We have capable men, women and youth who were groomed by the Swapo Party and who can ascend to any position of authority,” he said.

According to the party’s founding president, it was also a time for Swapo to overcome internal differences and bridge its divides.

“We need to bridge the divide among generations; we must bridge the gender divide; we must bridge the divide between the rich and the poor in order to restore trust and inspire hope among our people,” he said.

Constitution a ‘living document’

On the agenda for the weekend's central committee meeting was a plan to scrap the so-called Helmut Amendments, which are perceived to disadvantage many party members from standing for key positions at congress, such as that of president and vice president.

Nujoma, in a speech delivered a week ago at the party's politburo meeting, backed the plan to remove the amendments.

“...I agree with those who are saying that the Swapo constitution is a living document, and whatever changes made should move with the times, needs and ideals of the party. The constitution should not discriminate against some members.”

‘Shameful’

During the central committee meeting, Swapo president Hage Geingob tore into critics of the party, saying it will not feel ashamed for its role in liberating Namibia. He added that other parties were collaborating with the then apartheid regime and contributed nothing towards Namibia’s independence.

“How does one deny history, the movement that freed this country? They don’t want to hear that, but the truth is, who fought for this country’s freedom? “While some of them were collaborating with the Boers, today they are talking too much,” he said.

Geingob also questioned the contribution of the then Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) towards Namibia’s independence.

“Where was DTA to call Swapo sell-outs and puppets? The idea of trying to target former liberation movements; they say you have been too long in power, but when we were fighting for too long, they did not say you are fighting for too long,” he said.

According to him, such statements were shameful.

“You should be the ones to be ashamed, your history is rotten,” he said.

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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