Swapo at 62: Party old-timers speak

President Hage Geingob yesterday waxed lyrical about the achievement of the ruling party Swapo – which turned 62 yesterday – but retired party veterans argued the former liberation movement has become a haven for economic opportunism and corruption.Party stalwart and former prime minister Nahas Angula said Swapo was founded on the crucibles of solidarity and social justice, but the party has fallen off the rails of these key pillars. Solidarity, he said, has largely become an afterthought to Swapo policies. “I see many of us follow the party not because of any ideals but because Swapo gives us opportunities to accumulate something - perhaps you will get a job or a tender or the opportunity to steal something,” he said.“Solidarity means to share and care, especially with those on the margins of society. I am not sure that these ideals are shared with many in Swapo.” The party’s birthday comes at a time when two of its central committee members and former Cabinet members - Sacky Shanghala and Bernhardt Esau - are in jail, awaiting trial in the biggest corruption scandal the country has witnessed, the so-called Fishrot bribery debacle. Internal campaigns in the party are also said to have benefitted from the multimillion-dollar corruption through funding.The party leadership has for years insisted that Namibians must be grateful for the social liberties that the liberation movement has brought about; however, Angula pointed out that these liberties mean nothing to an impoverished nation.“Yes, we are enjoying freedom, but we also need to enjoy freedom from poverty. Those are the ideals we should reflect on as Swapo celebrates its 62nd birthday.”Too littleSwapo veteran Sannie Witbooi, widow of the late Swapo vice-president Hendrik Witbooi, said while she remains grateful to Swapo for liberating the country, it is necessary for the liberation movement to reflect on what it stood for.“There are a few things in the party that don’t sit right with me. We see leaders who divert from the ideals the party stands for. We see a lot of nepotism. If you don’t have a friend or family in the party, your children will not access opportunities or get a job. We fought for equality and for a decent life; we did not fight for large wealth,” she said. It is also her view that women, especially single women, must be better taken care of and in particular the elderly, who are forced to carry the burden of the country’s increasingly high unemployment rates. “Our children are suffering, and they are relying on their parents because they cannot find jobs. We need to look at unemployment because we wanted a Namibia where everyone could have a share of the cake,” Witbooi said. Swapo is doing enough Party veteran and former deputy prime minister Libertina Amathila said the party has done enough, but time has come for it to realise that things have changed and that they have to do away with the mentality of 62 years ago. She, however, stressed that Swapo has laid the groundwork for young Namibians to create their own fortunes and to transform the agriculture industry to feed themselves.“The party has done a lot; our ideal was to liberate the country and we did that, but we did not take into consideration economic liberation, so now we must work on that. We must wake up to feed ourselves and, for that, the youth must organise themselves. Swapo must wake up and realise that the youth think differently.” Hage optimistic In his celebratory statement, Swapo president Hage Geingob said the leadership will take full ownership of the heavy responsibility of ensuring that they continue to improve the quality of Namibian lives through deliberate and decisive interventions in different spheres of our governance architecture.According to him, the Swapo government’s achievements and policy initiatives are testament of its commitment towards tackling all and any transitional developmental challenges head-on.“As a governing party that has ruled for over three decades, the Swapo Party remains committed to not only leading the people of Namibia, but transforming their lives for the better. Our pedigree of leadership is proven.”He added: “Therefore, in this Year of Reimaging, we continue to champion programmes, ideas and policies that inspire hope and confidence in our people. That is the hope for an inclusive, just, prosperous nation and the confidence that, under Swapo leadership, the future of Namibia will continue to be safeguarded by peace, stability and unity.” jemima@namibiansun.com

Swapo at 62: Party old-timers speak

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

Please login to leave a comment

Swapo at 62: Party old-timers speak

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

Please login to leave a comment

Login