2017-12-01Staff Report 2 Matheus Hamutenya Keetmanshoop-Swapo //Kharas regional coordinator Matheus Mumbala says there should be no hostility between members who supported different factions during the recent Swapo congress. The congress had two groups fighting for the top four positions, with one known as Team Harambee, consisting of President Hage Geingob and his slate, while the other group was known as Team Swapo, and consisted of youth and sports minister Jerry Ekandjo and former prime minister Nahas Angula, who both challenged Geingob for the Swapo presidency, while others from the team also contested the top four positions. President Hage Geingob was duly elected as Swapo president, while the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, got the nod for the party’s vice-presidency. The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, and Swapo Party rector, Marco Hausiku, were elected as secretary general and vice-secretary general respectively. And while there had been tensions and name-calling in the build-up to the Swapo congress, Mumbala said this should all be in the past and all Swapo members should now be one united team, and focus their energies on producing wonders during the 2019 and 2020 elections. The Swapo regional head said the best outcome from the congress is not who won and who lost, but the togetherness and comradeship among party members after the congress. He added that the most important outcome of the congress is the unity amongst the two teams. He furthermore urged members to stop identifying with either team, as these teams are no more, and instead identify as one people united under one Swapo. “I do not want to hear someone calling anyone names such as Masalad – there is no Team Harambee versus Masalad. Congress is over and it is now up to us to ensure that come 2019 and 2020, we get resounding victories,” he said. He also encouraged members to refrain from negative comments on the various WhatsApp groups of the party, and called on administrators of these groups to control their members and monitor what members say. Mumbala said instead of negative comments towards each other, members of the party should, on such platforms, speak on important issues and challenges facing the community and how best to address them. 2017-12-01Staff Report 2
