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Amid allegations of tribalism, Usakos pleads for rerun of primaries

Home National Amid allegations of tribalism, Usakos pleads for rerun of primaries

Usakos

Swapo members at its Usakos branch are contesting the outcome of the election results from the recent primaries held to elect nominees to run in the regional and local authority elections set to take place in late November.

Eighty dissatisfied Swapo Party members at the Usakos branch in the Erongo Region have signed a petition, which they addressed to the party president, Dr Hage Geingob, who is also the Head of State, to Swapo secretary general Nangolo Mbumba and to members of the national executive committee (NEC) of Swapo, Utoni Nujoma and Agnes Kafula.

In the petition, dated October 5, 2015, the 80 signatories complained, saying the primaries held on October 4 were “hastily organised and conducted.” They appealed to the Swapo leadership to declare null and void the recent Usakos primaries on the grounds that they fear Swapo could risk losing one or two seats to the opposition DTA – which seems to have turned around its fortunes – and to the UDF, as voters want councillors who can deliver on promises.

“Let us do anything and everything possible to re-do this whole process and regain the trust of our fellow Swapo party comrades, the electorate and the community of Usakos,” they stated. They insisted that if Swapo were to nullify the primary results and ask for a re-run it would amount to fairness, inclusiveness, consideration and transparency among its members.

“We have taken stock of the primaries that were held in Karibib to elect candidates for the upcoming regional, local authority elections for the town of Usakos, and we can thus without fear or favour say that the whole process was not done in line with the strong democratic principles and openness, fairness, transparency, unity and inclusivity” that the party is known for, lamented the 80 disgruntled members.

They insist the primaries at Usakos were not open, because the branch secretariat withheld vital information from members, adding that, “In some instances some of us were only told what they (district secretariat), thought we needed to know.”

They said party delegates to the primaries were only informed through an SMS a day before the elections that a district conference would be held in Karibib to conduct the primaries. They further allege the elections were marred by what they say is tribal victimisation, as only candidates from a certain tribe were given preference – at the expense of other equally deserving cadres.

“The majority of card-carrying party members were not granted their democratic opportunity to be party to the election process for their own leaders that will lead them in the next five years,” the petitioners complained in the letter addressed to Geingob, as the acting president of Swapo.

Although the current fight is – or should be – about economic freedom and poverty eradication, most of the candidates do not have the academic qualifications or the necessary skills to lobby, or identify solutions, or to reason and deliberate on viable and sustainable solutions in the interest of the residents of Usakos, they further stated.