Swapo’s weekend of long knives beckons

The Swapo central committee will convene tomorrow to decide whether the party should have an extraordinary congress this year to elect a new president, and whether party vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah should be the sole candidate.

Alternatively, the central committee will consider an alleged proposal by the politburo to defer the extraordinary congress to 2025, citing fear of divisions ahead the general election in November. This move has been described by party insiders as unconstitutional, because Swapo statutes dictate that – under these circumstances – an extraordinary congress must be called within 90 days after the death of party president Hage Geingob on 4 February.

Swapo lost its two-thirds majority in the last elections in 2019, and the party wants to go into this year’s poll as a united front. The divisive 2017 congress is partially blamed for the party’s poor performance in the 2019 general election - and the 2020 regional and local authority elections, in which it was unseated from key towns, including the capital Windhoek.

Geingob’s absence leaves Nandi-Ndaitwah as chairperson of tomorrow’s proceedings, but some have argued that this constitutes a conflict of interest because the meeting was called largely to seal her fate.

The party’s legal secretary, Pohamba Shifeta, yesterday confirmed that Nandi-Ndaitwah will chair the meeting.

“It is not a question of conflict. If the president is not there, the vice-president should serve or act. When it comes to the extraordinary congress, no one else but the vice-president has the power to exercise this responsibility. It will be irregular for anyone else to chair the meeting,” he said.

Factional battles

The majority of central committee members who spoke to this publication this week are leaning towards the position of having Nandi-Ndaitwah endorsed as the sole candidate at the extraordinary congress to prevent the party from going to the polls divided.

If the party follows its constitutional provisions, an extraordinary congress will have to take place before 4 May.

A proponent of deferring the congress to 2025 told Namibian Sun: “We must make a decision that is in the interest of the party as a whole. With any contestation, you will always have factional battles, and considering the damage of these battles in the past, the timeframe between now and elections is just too short to unite opposing factions”.

Another source cautioned that any attempt to defer the extraordinary congress or a decision not to hold the indaba for any reason whatsoever “will compromise the party constitution”.

“If we apply the provisions of the constitution selectively, we will create a situation whereby all party structures only decide to make use of the constitution when it is in their interest. Therefore, whether the central committee endorses a specific candidate or whatever it decides, congress must take place within the prescribed timelines.”

Best way forward

The decision on whether the extraordinary congress should take place has also pitted the party’s 14 regional coordinators against each other.

The coordinators met yesterday to consult on a common position regarding the best way forward.

Sources who attended the meeting indicated that the pro-Netumbo coordinators want her to be endorsed and congress postponed to next year.

Others also feel an extraordinary congress will eat into the party’s election campaign budget, but a former deputy minister said the party could convene virtually like it did in 2018 when it held an extraordinary congress to amend its constitution.

Some antagonists to the extraordinary convention have even gone as far as suggesting that the party constitution gives the central committee full powers of congress, including deciding whether an extraordinary congress should take place or not.

Article 12 of the party constitution states that the central committee is the highest organ of authority between congresses.

“You must remember that the constitution is a living document and it must serve in the best interests of the party,” another party insider said.

Gender rules

The party’s top leadership currently comprises Nandi-Ndaitwah (vice-president), Sophia Shaningwa (secretary-general) and Uahekua Herunga (deputy secretary-general).

If the central committee decides to endorse Nandi-Ndaitwah as the sole candidate for the top spot at the extraordinary congress, it means only male candidates will be eligible to stand for the party’s vice-presidency, as per the party’s 50/50 gender rules.

Names that have been making rounds in the party for that position include Shifeta, Peya Mushelenga and Veikko Nekundi.

Swapo veteran Jerry Ekandjo dismissed suggestions that he wants to challenge for the party’s presidential position, adding that his demands for the constitution to be adhered to have often been misconstrued to mean he wants to contest for the top spot.

“If we want to correct the path and defend the party, we are not doing it to stand for positions. It means we want the current leadership to keep to the constitution, which stipulates that the top four, the central committee and politburo should be serving for five years. The late president only served one year and two months and there is now a remaining three years and eight months,” he said.

The constitution is clear, Ekandjo said - before 4 May, there should be an extraordinary congress and no later than that.

“A person cannot be endorsed in a position they are not in. The central committee is called only for one purpose. They have only one agenda. That is to call for an extraordinary congress. Time is against us.”

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