Swapo politburo endorses congress roadmap

The Swapo politburo met this Monday to confirm dates that have been tentatively proposed for various processes leading up to its congress in November.

As early as 20 August, the central committee will meet to call for the party’s seventh congress, whose biggest mandate is to find a replacement for President Hage Geingob as head of state when he leaves office in 2025.

The politburo is then expected to, on 5 September, nominate candidates for vice-president, secretary-general and deputy secretary-general.

In May, the politburo resolved that the position of party president would not be contested for – meaning Geingob will be retained unchallenged, at least until he vacates State House in 2025.

This is if Geingob sticks to his principle of ‘one centre of power’, which would allow the incoming head of state to also serve as head of the party.

If Geingob flip-flops on this stance, he is likely to be party president until 2027 when the next elective congress will be held. He will be 86 at the time.

In September, the Swapo central committee – the highest decision-making body between congresses – will convene and consider nominations made at politburo and also nominate its own candidates. Congress will still have to make the final endorsement regarding the nominated candidates. In fact, though rarely, nominations can also be made from the floor at congress.

Campaigns can start as of 12 September, two days after the central committee has endorsed nominations. That’s before congress kicks off on 25 November in Windhoek.

Geingob’s silence

Namibian Sun recently reported that Geingob has been told he will retain his position unchallenged on condition that he avoids endorsing any candidate ahead of congress.

Politburo member Tobie Aupindi poured cold water over these claims, saying challenging a sitting party president, though democratic, is a political miscalculation and should not have been allowed in 2017 when Geingob was challenged at congress.

Geingob was, however, only acting as president at the time and was not elected to the position after his predecessor Hifikepunye Pohamba deserted the position in 2015 in order to comply with conditions to receive N$50 million for winning the Mo Ibrahim prize for African leadership.

Geingob has been under pressure to endorse his current party deputy Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah “in order to keep the tradition alive”, but he is yet to indicate whether he will do so.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is also the country’s international relations minister, is potentially up against Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila in the race to replace Geingob.

But more candidates – including Geingob’s rumoured preferred man, defence minister Frans Kapofi – could enter the fray after the recent Swapo policy conference agreed that the prohibitive ‘Helmut Amendments’ should be discussed for possible removal.

Make the pool bigger

Namibian Sun understands that a special central committee meeting is now slated for August specifically to possibly relax the amendments and make the pool of candidates bigger.

In their current state, the amendments do not allow candidates who have not been in the central committee for 10 consecutive years to contest for the top four positions.

Young people and other party technocrats see this as a ploy to prevent them from challenging party veterans for top positions, hence the push to remove the amendments.

Attempts to reach party spokesperson Hilma Nicanor proved futile.