ONGWEDIVA – Some members of the All People’s Party (APP) have accused its leadership of imposing leaders on them, alleging that the names currently appearing on the party’s parliamentary list are rigged.
The party towards the end of September held a two-fold event of training and its electoral college where it drew up a list of its candidates for the National Assembly elections next month.
Tangy Mike Tshilongo, who this year also contested for the APP presidential position, claimed the names were crafted before the actual event held on September 26 at Döbra outside Windhoek.
“The results at the electoral college were cooked. The election did not take place on Saturday as is being alluded to. According to the programme the election was only scheduled to take place on Sunday morning,” said Tshilongo.
In response, the APP secretary-general Vincent Kanyetu dismissed the allegations.
Kanyetu said the election process of the members on the parliamentary list was unanimously agreed upon.
“The manner in which the election was handled was agreed upon by everyone in attendance and the power was given to the committee to come up with the parliamentary list,” said Kanyetu.
Kanyetu said a committee was initially set up and tasked to produce the names of the parliamentary list, but it allegedly reached a deadlock and was dissolved.
A second committee was then established and collectively managed to create the list, the secretary-general added.
Quizzed on whether the establishment of committees came as a result of disagreements at the electoral college, Kanyetu said there were no disagreements.
Tshilongo further charged that the party has no new ideas to bring to the fore once elected into power.
He said the just launched manifesto is a copy of 2014.
“Our manifesto is exactly a copy and paste of 2014 with the year changed to 2019. We were stopped when we wanted to challenge the manifesto,” said Tshilongo.
The APP currently has two seats in the National Assembly.