Swapo at war over //Karas police jobs
‘Skewed’ shortlist sparks national debate
Former governor Katrina Hanse-Himarwa is one of the senior figures in Swapo to express discontent with the //Karas recruitments.
Some Swapo central committee members have warned the party that the latest police recruitment in the //Karas Region, which seems to show massive exclusion of the region’s biggest ethnic group, will only make it harder for the ruling party to reclaim the two southern regions.
A debate ensued among central committee members yesterday, with some defending the outcome of the recruitment process which shows that the majority of the 183 shortlisted candidates have Oshiwambo surnames.
For example, from the first 20 names on the list, 13 are of Oshiwambo origin and only two – a Josob and a Kaffer – relate to the Nama ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the region.
While it is generally accepted that a Nama could be fathered by a Wambo and thus have the latter’s surname, the list has still evoked suspicion of tribal bias in both Swapo and the general public.
One of the Swapo leaders angered by the shortlist is former education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, who called for the “rectification” of the recruitment process in //Karas.
“Me being a Swapo leader should not silence me for political correctness. That process must be rectified. I am unapologetic about that,” she said yesterday from Mariental in neighbouring Hardap Region.
Swapo lost the Hardap and //Karas regions in the 2020 local authority and regional council elections to the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), which became the dominant party.
A by-election held in the Keetmanshoop Rural constituency a fortnight ago saw the ruling party candidate losing to LPM again, despite concerted efforts from Swapo to recapture the constituency.
Why Swapo lost the south
“It is these exact type of things why Swapo lost the south because many people here started feeling discriminated against,” Hanse-Himarwa fumed.
“You look at this list and can tell there is no representation of realities on the ground - be it the unemployment situation or the ethnic demographics.”
“I’ve seen all sorts of excuses being made to justify this, but this cannot be allowed. If this list was from Ohangwena and it’s dominated by Hanse, Brandt and Isaack surnames, would the people in that region be happy and not question anything?
“When Comrade [Hifikepunye] Pohamba was president, he once remarked at Aussenkehr that ‘we can see the skewedness just by looking at people’ and he was right. It’s the same in this situation,” the former Hardap governor said.
She described the situation as ‘very dangerous’ and warned that it can lead to serious ramifications for the country if these kinds of state-sanctioned behaviours continue unabated.
“If we are to protect this country, we have to be sensitive in how we do things. We have seen similar behaviours with scholarships, where students from the south are excluded. We are fed flimsy excuses such as that some applications had missing documents. How is it that this only happens with students from one tribe?”
Regionalism vs nationalism
Commenting on the issue, Swapo regional coordinator for //Karas, Matheus Mumbala, said if the shortlisted candidates meet the requirements, they ought to be appointed.
“Do you know what the requirements were and when it was advertised? I'm a nationalist. By being Namibian, you apply where you qualify, you should be employed everywhere,” he said.
Mumbala further noted that requirements can be added at constituency level to enable natives of specific regions to qualify.
“I can only accept regionalism if you put [it in] your requirements. Regionalism should be a requirement per constituency,” he said.
“If we go by surname, I'm sorry but we have a lot of Mumbalas living here. We are talking about 33 years [of independence], how old are those recruits?” he asked.
Doesn’t bode well
Meanwhile, on whether issues like this will make it difficult for Swapo to retain the southern regions, Mumbala said: “Swapo is a party for Namibian people, why should I have difficulty recruiting members for the party?”
A Swapo central committee member who preferred to speak anonymously said: “This does not auger well for our party. The fact that the party’s regional coordinator for //Karas is Wambo has already caused a lot of unhappiness, and now we have the police recruitment looking like this”.
A debate ensued among central committee members yesterday, with some defending the outcome of the recruitment process which shows that the majority of the 183 shortlisted candidates have Oshiwambo surnames.
For example, from the first 20 names on the list, 13 are of Oshiwambo origin and only two – a Josob and a Kaffer – relate to the Nama ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the region.
While it is generally accepted that a Nama could be fathered by a Wambo and thus have the latter’s surname, the list has still evoked suspicion of tribal bias in both Swapo and the general public.
One of the Swapo leaders angered by the shortlist is former education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa, who called for the “rectification” of the recruitment process in //Karas.
“Me being a Swapo leader should not silence me for political correctness. That process must be rectified. I am unapologetic about that,” she said yesterday from Mariental in neighbouring Hardap Region.
Swapo lost the Hardap and //Karas regions in the 2020 local authority and regional council elections to the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), which became the dominant party.
A by-election held in the Keetmanshoop Rural constituency a fortnight ago saw the ruling party candidate losing to LPM again, despite concerted efforts from Swapo to recapture the constituency.
Why Swapo lost the south
“It is these exact type of things why Swapo lost the south because many people here started feeling discriminated against,” Hanse-Himarwa fumed.
“You look at this list and can tell there is no representation of realities on the ground - be it the unemployment situation or the ethnic demographics.”
“I’ve seen all sorts of excuses being made to justify this, but this cannot be allowed. If this list was from Ohangwena and it’s dominated by Hanse, Brandt and Isaack surnames, would the people in that region be happy and not question anything?
“When Comrade [Hifikepunye] Pohamba was president, he once remarked at Aussenkehr that ‘we can see the skewedness just by looking at people’ and he was right. It’s the same in this situation,” the former Hardap governor said.
She described the situation as ‘very dangerous’ and warned that it can lead to serious ramifications for the country if these kinds of state-sanctioned behaviours continue unabated.
“If we are to protect this country, we have to be sensitive in how we do things. We have seen similar behaviours with scholarships, where students from the south are excluded. We are fed flimsy excuses such as that some applications had missing documents. How is it that this only happens with students from one tribe?”
Regionalism vs nationalism
Commenting on the issue, Swapo regional coordinator for //Karas, Matheus Mumbala, said if the shortlisted candidates meet the requirements, they ought to be appointed.
“Do you know what the requirements were and when it was advertised? I'm a nationalist. By being Namibian, you apply where you qualify, you should be employed everywhere,” he said.
Mumbala further noted that requirements can be added at constituency level to enable natives of specific regions to qualify.
“I can only accept regionalism if you put [it in] your requirements. Regionalism should be a requirement per constituency,” he said.
“If we go by surname, I'm sorry but we have a lot of Mumbalas living here. We are talking about 33 years [of independence], how old are those recruits?” he asked.
Doesn’t bode well
Meanwhile, on whether issues like this will make it difficult for Swapo to retain the southern regions, Mumbala said: “Swapo is a party for Namibian people, why should I have difficulty recruiting members for the party?”
A Swapo central committee member who preferred to speak anonymously said: “This does not auger well for our party. The fact that the party’s regional coordinator for //Karas is Wambo has already caused a lot of unhappiness, and now we have the police recruitment looking like this”.
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