Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary Ephraim Nekongo says discussions about succession with the ruling party ahead of the 2027 watershed congress are premature.
The party is still completing internal renewal processes across its structures, Nekongo said.
Entering the Swapo congress discourse this week, the youth leader said the party follows a structured process that begins at the grassroots level before moving up to higher leadership levels.
“Normally, the process starts from the section to the branch. Then branch, district after district, then region, and then from the region, and we will then talk about the determination now of the highest offices,” he said.
He said the party is currently focusing on renewing mandates at lower structures, which must be completed before national leadership discussions begin.
“So, it is easy for us to talk because we are still at the section level where we are doing our renewal of mandate,” Nekongo said.
According to him, the same process applies within the party’s wings, where leadership positions will only be determined once the grassroots structures complete their renewal cycles.
“In the youth league, it is the same. We still have the process of starting from the branch,
coming to the section branch, and then the region. Once we did that branch, then it is when we get known to say, ‘Okay, who is going to be the secretary of the youth league?’ Am I going to retain my position or whatever?” he said.
The parliamentarian stressed it is still too early to discuss potential candidates for the party’s top leadership positions.
“It is too early for us to talk about it now because there are still processes that need to be followed,” he said. Further, nominations for the party’s top leadership, including the president, vice president and secretary general, will only come later in the process.
“The nomination of the president or the vice president, secretary general – there is still ample time. We are still coming to that,” he said.
Additionally, the party recently directed structures to fill leadership vacancies that emerged after some leaders moved to other positions. “The party only directed the replacement of those leaders who have risen, and now they have left the vacancy. The idea is to fill those vacancies to finish the term of those who were replaced,” Nekongo said.
The youth league leader noted that renewal timelines differ across structures depending on when leaders were elected.
“Our constitution is clear in terms of how many years the section sits. We say two, four, and then five. Maybe the section is two years, the district is four years and the region is five years,” he said.
He added that leadership terms expire at different times. “If I were renewed in August, I can only be replaced in August. Because that is when my term comes to an end,” he said.
Nekongo described the ongoing processes as the “renewal of mandate”, which forms part of the build-up to the party’s national congress.