Ignatius Kariseb

The past few weeks saw a great increase in Swapo Party campaigning and bargaining activity. For us, that has and continue to serve in the structures, it is indicative of a Swapo Party that is alive, on the ground and a party spreading its wings across all districts in hopes of getting messages of hope across.

Three candidates are currently vying for the position of vice president, the understanding remains that whoever manages to clinch the VP seat will most likely be the party`s 2024 national elections candidate.

Amongst us as party members, an emerging debate is currently taking place as to who amongst the candidates is best suited to take over as party president. I stand, in unwavered solidarity to make a case for current Swapo vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who stood on the shoulders of giants for a moment like this.

Current party vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah stands as the candidate who needs to carry forth the legacy, a legacy which stood the test of time and didn’t bend backwards when pressured to do so.

However, the current challenges, are in need of a leader who will take them head on, and ensure the country is best capacitated to respond to 21st century challenges.

I alongside many, are certain that Cde Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has all the skills and competencies necessary for this.

Why Netumbo?

Comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah boasts leadership skills that are transactional, transformative, and emancipative and outcome-based. These are keywords that one could draw not only from her past two engagements in the Omaheke and Erongo regions, but throughout her tenure in many of the portfolios that she competently led.

What Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah does exceptionally well is embrace in the individualised consideration of all party members from all walks of life, this is the leadership practice of forging and nurturing a healthy, meaningful relationships between us as cadres. This style often means that the leader is more caring and offers support and empathy.

We further saw her make powerful reference to communities and underprivileged communities in her engagements who are in need of greater, equity-reliant support and initiatives to capacitate them. This is important to ensure that we deploy much needed resources to those communities. This is a style of leadership that will propel our party.

Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah remains conscious of the fact that in order to build a strong and resilient party, one must start with building sturdy and committed party members from the sections, branches, districts and regions. 

She realises that all strong relationships rely on honest and transparent communication for us as party members. This is guided by her belief that forging relationships within a team helps minimize internal conflicts and develop unique talents within the team.

Ultimately, she emphasises that this kind of approach helps eliminate unhealthy relationships and encourage harmony within us as Swapo Party members.

Through her campaign engagements, Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah encourages organisational learning and stimulate creativity on how we as party members can best work towards shared prosperity, in addition to working towards a unified goal and improving self-morale and satisfaction towards party members, Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah is a transformational leader who encourages all Swapo Party members to continue improving by creating opportunities to face challenges.

Comrade Nandi-Ndaitwah continues to advocate for social capital and meaningful synergy to help party mates discover their own capabilities by bringing them out of their comfort zones.

If we, as party members, can strive to achieve what is being set before us by our vice president, we will be in a better position to structurally, philosophically & consistently grow our party and restore the confidence of electorates in the ability of the party.

When we lobby for Comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to retain her position, we know we lobby for a candidate that has the capability to unite us as a party and a people. We must rally behind the legacy-oriented idea to promote social capital, collective growth, inclusivity, genuine youth empowerment and reconfiguring our structures.