Swapo spokesperson Hilma Nicanor has dismissed media reports suggesting the party’s politburo has rejected a plan backed by President Hage Geingob to reduce the number of years a candidate needs to compete for top party positions, such as vice president and secretary general.
“Such reports and insinuations are devoid of any truth and should be condemned with the necessary contempt they deserve,” Nicanor said yesterday while briefing the media on the outcomes of the party central committee’s special meeting held in Windhoek last week Saturday.
Nicanor said the special meeting was called subsequent to the ordinary meeting of the central committee which took place on 21 May 2022 in Windhoek, with the objective to receive and discuss proposed policy documents by the Swapo think tank.
The proposed policy documents, subject to the deliberations of the central committee, will be presented at the upcoming Swapo policy conference.
According to Nicanor, the policy conference will draw cadres from party structures across the entire 14 regions of the country.
“The policy proposals as presented by the party think tank and interrogated by the special meeting of the central committee range from the youth’s political empowerment and participation and advancement of youth employment, and the development of broad-based local participation policies in Namibia’s mining industry,” she informed.
“It also ranges from the oil and gas sectors, enhancement of economic growth and food security, education, reviving the Namibian economy, accelerating the housing development programme in Namibia, the development and implementation of universal health coverage, and the development of national techno poles and innovation centres for economic growth.”
The think tank policy document that entails the proposed amendments to the constitution was discussed at the ordinary central committee meeting of 21 May 2022.
Nicanor added that the central committee, having been presented with the draft policy documents by the party think tank, has made significant interventions, which will be incorporated in the final drafts to be submitted and discussed at the policy conference.
“In that regard, the outcome of the policy conference will be interrogated by the upcoming Swapo Party congress, slated towards the end of this year,” she said.