WAVIS BAY – In an unprecedented move, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) on Saturday elected current Swakopmund mayor Lovisa Kativa to contest for the vacant position of Swakopmund constituency councillor.
The by-elections are slated for August this year, and were necessitated after the IPC in May this year expelled their former member Ciske Smith-Howard, who held the councillor position.
Speaking yesterday about the elective process, IPC vice president and Walvis Bay mayor Trevino Forbes indicated that anyone from the IPC had the opportunity to take part in the elective process over the weekend.
He said it won’t be a challenge to also replace Kativa as mayor, seeing the party has quality candidates who can take over.
Forbes noted that Kativa has proven herself to be a strong contender for the position.
“She has the heart for our people, and she proved herself worthy during her reign as Swakopmund mayor,” he added.
According to him, Kativa will only resign as Swakopmund mayor once she is elected as the regional councillor.
“It’s not only about having the best candidate, but it should be a people’s person. She is known among the community as a dedicated leader who has their interests at heart. Apart from that, she went through the whole election process and was chosen by those at grassroots’ level,” he noted.
Shortly after being elected, Kativa promised to bring change in the constituency.
“My track record in council speaks volumes, and I intend to emulate the same commitment once elected as constituency councillor of Swakopmund,” she promised.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah yesterday described the IPC’s strategy as “rather interesting”.
He said it seems that the party wants the constituency back by using the most capable person.
“You can see some political manoeuvring to capture an additional seat to their side. However, when you move someone that is doing very well to another position, it might not sometimes deliver the same results,” Kamwanyah reasoned.
However, in this case, it’s more about getting the constituency back that was left vacant by their own party member who was expelled earlier, he said.
“The primary motive is to retain that seat by employing the best tool they have; someone already known by the voters. It might not be a bad strategy at the end of the day,” he added.