Die-hard elements within the SWAPO movement have not made peace with Hifikepunye Pohamba’s victory at the 2004 SWAPO Congress and are continually stoking the fires of rebellion. In Gwen Lister of the Namibian, these erstwhile revolutionaries have found an ally to wage psychological warfare so as to destabilize the relationship between Pohamba and Sam Nujoma in the first place and usher in an opportunity for their ascendancy to power in the second instance. It is all about power at all costs. In this game of politics, Gwen Lister who masquerades as political analyst-cum-journalist is the point woman for the onslaught against Nujoma. Being a SWAPO outsider Gwen Lister is well positioned to wage the war against Nujoma on behalf of her protÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚©gÃÆ’Æ‘Æ‘ÃÆ”šÃ‚©s who cannot gather the courage to play ball and stomach the consequences. Gwen Lister is the central plank in the attempt to wrestle power from Pohamba whom these elements consider a Nujoma man. She is the visible face of the hidden cabal within SWAPO that seeks to reverse the gains of the 2004 SWAPO Congress if not that of our revolution. Her “political perspective” of last week is telling of the role she has assumed in propping up a faction in SWAPO that is fast gaining the notoriety of being rebellious. In her so-called perspective, Gwen Lister assumes that there is bad blood between Pohamba and Nujoma and wants her readers to believe that without providing substantive reasons for the assumption. All she can come up with is the absence of Nujoma from this year’s independence celebrations in Windhoek. This is a fallacy. The notion that Nujoma and Pohamba are at loggerheads based on the above is not only a sham but plain stupid because it does not provide reasons why Nujoma should have stayed in Windhoek instead of joining his compatriots in Mariental. It does not state why it was necessary and a matter of must that he be in Windhoek. To do what? In any case, Lister would have found another excuse to get at Nujoma had he chosen to stick around with Pohamba. One of the blatant misnomers used by these elements is that Nujoma should not feature at public events because he is a retired president. Every time Nujoma appears at public functions, there are voices mourning and groaning about why he would not let Pohamba ‘mind his business’. So why the different tune? Why does Lister now want Pohamba and Nujoma together? Her minders have always complained that Pohamba is a puppet of Nujoma. They opposed him at the congress on that basis. They still do. They have never believed in him. They do not trust anything he does. When Pohamba appointed his cabinet last year, these elements characterized it as a Nujoma cabinet. They saw the hand of Nujoma behind the appointments even though some of the people appointed are part of their faction. What we see before us is a resurgence of the factional battles in the form of a campaign to effect change through all means. Gwen Lister is the new voice of the cabal that wants the change in the absence of its leaders who have opted to lie low while clandestinely organizing themselves. Gwen Lister is their latest discovery and is engaged in overt propaganda on behalf of her masters. She is part of the chain and is responsible for peddling subtle propaganda while acting as the public face of this faction. She is what Jerry Adams, her blood cousin was for Sinn Fein or the IRA. Let this be known by the nation that the Namibian newspaper is being used by Gwen as a springboard of attack and destabilization of our political system. For this, it should be condemned with the contempt it deserves. Lazarus Kambonde Windhoek West
2006-03-312024-04-23By Staff Reporter