2017-08-24Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek President Hage Geingob is scheduled to officially open the 6th Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) elective congress this morning in Katima Mulilo, State House confirmed yesterday. Three candidates – Mandela Kapere, Epharim Nekongo and Mirjam Nghidipo – are vying for the league’s secretary position. Christine Haindaka, Mogale Kalimbue and Immanuel Shikongo were elected to contest the position of deputy secretary. League spokesperson Neville Andre, speaking to New Era in an interview to be published tomorrow, said the SPYL constitution does not allow nominations from the floor, therefore there is no expectation for new candidates to emerge in Katima Mulilo. “We’re guided by the constitution, therefore no candidates may be nominated from the floor,” he said. Current acting secretary of the league, Member of Parliament Veikko Nekundi, will not stand for election to that position, so also Dr Elijah Ngurare, who was elected secretary in 2012 until his brief expulsion from the party in 2015. Ngurare and four others were reinstated in the party after a High Court ruling, but were never officially installed back into the positions they previously held in the league. In May, an SPYL central committee took a decision to endorse President Geingob as the sole candidate for the party presidency ahead of this year’s elective congress. Andre said congress will deliberate on that proposition and make a decision whether to endorse it or not. It is not clear if any other party members would challenge for the position, which was contested by three candidates at the last congress in 2012. In fact, Geingob himself has not publicly declared his availability for any positions at congress. 2017-08-24Staff Report 2
