Gobabis town councillor and deputy mayor Nonna Goreses has refused to vacate office, saying the Swapo party’s Gobabis district executive committee which recommended her suspension does not have powers to suspend or recall any member, or those deployed by the party.

Swapo’s Gobabis district coordinator Liberius Kalili late last year accused Goreses of insubordination, and suspended her from partaking in council activities with immediate effect. He said the decision to suspend her was taken by the district executive.

At the time, she was only a few days into her new role after having been elected as the town’s deputy mayor. Recently, Kalili wrote to the Gobabis municipality’s acting CEO Angeline Steenkamp, reminding the municipality of Goreses’ suspension. 

“We are aware that the Gobabis municipality allows councillor Goreses to attend council meetings, which is contrary to the directive of the Swapo party and is tantamount to undermining decisions of the party, which is the appointing authority of councillor Goreses to the municipal council of Gobabis.

We humbly request your office to comply with the decision of the Swapo party, or we will take legal action to nullify all decisions taken by the council while councillor Goreses was in attendance after her suspension,” stated Kalili in a recent letter to the council. 

Contacted for comment, Goreses vowed not to vacate office, saying Kalili and his cronies do not have the power to suspend her.

“If one looks at the matter at hand, the Gobabis district executive committee does not have powers to suspend nor recall any party member, or those deployed by the party. This decision rests entirely with the political bureau. We even had a meeting recently with the SG, and she reconfirmed that even she herself does not have the powers to recall or suspend anyone, and that the matter must follow due process and be addressed to the political bureau,” Goreses told New Era yesterday.  

“If the district executive committees are making decisions on issues clearly spelled out in the party constitution that those powers rest with the political bureau, it means they are undermining the political bureau. The party needs to take serious action against leaders of lower structures who are bringing the party’s name into disrepute by undermining the party hierarchy,” she added.

She said she is one of three councillors, and the only female representing Swapo on the Gobabis council. 

“For your information, we previously held five seats on the council. But due to the conduct of both the current Gobabis district executive committee and the previous council, many Swapo members in the district lost trust in the party,” she observed.

“You must know that most of the Gobabis district executive committee members are either municipal employees, and some were councillors themselves before. This is in violation of the party constitution that says you can’t be employed by the local authority and hold a position in the structures of the party,” she said.

She added that this also creates a clear conflict of interest because the Gobabis district executive members in the council were reporting to themselves. 

“This is a serious issue which the CC or the politburo must look into because it hampers accountability and service delivery at local authorities. 

So, with the investigations ongoing at the municipality, most of them are conflicted in one way or another, and would try everything in their power to either derail the investigations or place someone in council, especially the management council, that would leak confidential municipal information to them. Their dealings have nothing to do with advancing the interests of the party nor promoting service delivery. It’s all about self- interest and trying to cover up their unethical dealings at the municipality during their tenure”, she stressed.