ONGWEDIVA - Swapo vice president and presidential aspirant Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has implored members to have a full understanding of the party’s constitution and to follow its guidelines. 

“The constitution is put there to guide us, comrades, but people always want to go the other way around the constitution. Meanwhile, there are ways on which it can be amended. How do you run a party when you are not following the constitution?” she questioned while addressing a sizeable crowd at Ongwediva in the Oshana region during a mobilisation event on Saturday. 

“There are no shortcuts in the constitution. It is the shortcuts that bring a lot of chaos. Even when you are building your house and you make a shortcut, it will one day crumble down.” Nandi-Ndaitwah’s comments come days after media reports suggested she had been at the forefront of blocking discussions around amendments to the ruling party’s constitution at central committee level. 

The Namibian reported recently that Nandi-Ndaitwah and Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, who are tipped to contest the Swapo vice presidency at this year’s elective congress, successfully blocked proposals to amend the Swapo constitution rules which state that candidates vying for the top positions should have “consistently and persistently” served as a member of the ruling party’s central committee for 10 years. Some party leaders want the so-called ‘Helmut Amendments’ done away with to include potential candidates who might be excluded because of the amendments. Swapo is expected to hold a policy conference before its watershed elective congress before the end of the year. The party has come under fire from certain quarters of society over the years. However, Nandi-Ndaitwah believes without Swapo, the country would be in trouble. “We are being destroyed by others without knowing because I know some of these ideas are not coming from us (the party). We are being badly influenced because people want chaos in this party for them to take advantage and we should not allow that,” she stressed. She added that outside forces intend to destroy Swapo and eventually the country, “because without Swapo, the country is in trouble”.

Negativity

Nandi-Ndaitwah further slammed the sayings that “Swapo is no longer a dominant party”. She said people’s minds are polluted with negativity and made to think Swapo is no more alive. Therefore, she urged party members to go on a recruitment drive. “When you go on social media, it is just insults, especially among young people who are our asset. We need to bring our people who are misled back to the party. They must come back home,” she stated, adding that the party will not win elections without support from the “people”.  Speaking at the same event, Swapo’s Oshana coordinator Samuel Nelongo condemned party members who use social media to spread lies and attack others. “Those who do that should desist from doing that, and
those comrades who have become victims of character assassination must wear
their bulletproofs as per the constitution of the Swapo party,” he said.

– ashikololo@nepc.com.na