An Independent Patriots for Change member and last year’s Windhoek local authority candidate late yesterday attempted to walk back a damning resignation letter in which she accused the relatively new political movement of no longer reflecting the values and beliefs it promised the Namibian people.
Rozelda Somses, who announced her resignation from the party, was snubbed by the party after she was skipped to join the municipal council as the next candidate on the list.
Although confirming the resignation earlier in the day she called this reporter late yesterday afternoon saying she does not know who wrote the letter.
The IPC has four councillors on the 15-member council.
IPC last week brought in Jürgen Hecht as a replacement for former management committee chairperson Fillemon Hambuda, who recently vacated his seat on the city council.
“The IPC no longer reflects the values and beliefs it promised the Namibian citizens. Instead of seeking to heal the resignation of prominent leaders in the party, not to mention the divisions and appointments through tribal lines, the priority of the party leadership is to draw red lines to those who confront them to correct the wrongs within the party,” Somses said in her resignation letter to the party leadership yesterday.
She said certain things have convinced her that neither her contributions in the party were being valued nor did she get the respect that every individual patriot deserves.
“I am dissatisfied and disappointed with the way I have been treated by the leadership and the fact that no consultation took place as to why I could not fill the vacant position as the next candidate in line on the candidate list of the local authority council of Windhoek,” she stressed, in a letter seen by New Era.
“Does it mean that all those candidates on the list are incompetent hence, no consideration could be given to them to fill the vacant position, or can I assume that they were just placed there as window dressers to do the dirty campaign work to achieve the desired results for the party and then be dumped like me?” she asked.
She said this is worrisome and she believes the parliamentary list of candidates might be altered for the 2024 elections.
“Why should a political party use the Local Authorities Act as a guiding tool to replace and fill vacant positions arising from the resignation of its public office bearers?
“What about the party constitution? When did IPC assess and evaluate my expertise to conclude that I am incompetent or do not possess the required skills to perform the tasks at hand and up to expectations,” she questioned.
IPC secretary general Christine !Aochamus last week said the decision to appoint Hecht to the city council was above board.
“The Act made provision that a party fill the vacancy from the party list which was gazetted or any other members,” she said.
“We have a challenge within the city. We have realised that any member that we fill in the city should be able to bring experience that will lighten the burden on the city to be able to solve the problems within. We then looked at our members to see who is suitable, therefore, we have identified him.”
The IPC also withdrew Desiree Davids in September following her suspension at the end of June after it emerged her request to buy land was allegedly fast-tracked. Davids also resigned from the party.
In August, IPC banned Hambuda and two other councillors for a week from participating in council activities on its behalf as it found that the councillors were negligent when they admitted guilt following an incident in which the City Police officers forced Tobias Hainyeko constituency residents to remove illegally erected shacks.