2005-12-15Staff Report 2 "By Kuvee Kangueehi Windhoek Jesaya Nyamu, the former Swapo Party Politburo member who was booted out of Swapo last week claims his erstwhile party has been hijacked by a powerful ""clique"" from the Omusati region. Yesterday, Nyamu held a press conference at his house where he fingered former President Sam Nujoma, Justice Minister and Attorney General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana and Lands Minister Jerry Ekandjo as part of the powerful ""clique"" that controls Swapo and was responsible for his political demise. In a symbolic gesture to express his rejection of the move to eject him from Swapo, Nyamu produced his letter of expulsion and burned it in front of journalists, saying the letter was ""utter rubbish"". Setting alight a copy of the letter which was on a Swapo letterhead, the former cabinet minister claimed that his expulsion from the party was not the decision of the politburo but the action of the ""Omusati clique"" within the politburo, which abused the name of the Swapo party. He claimed that this ""faction"" within the Swapo Party Politburo ambushed the last politburo meeting that expelled him from the party. He noted that he was invited to the meeting which decided to expel him, but could not attend because of other commitments. He claimed that he however called the Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange and requested to know what was on the agenda. ""I was told by Tjiriange that the only thing on the agenda was the discovery of human skeletons."" Nyamu added that the issue of his expulsion was added very late on the agenda by Swapo President Sam Nujoma. He said that he was informed by his friends in the politburo that the matter was not even debated and the chairman introduced the motion and received two comments from the members before pushing through the expulsion. ""This was clearly a conviction from an individual or a clique and not a politburo decision. There was no voting and I know Nujoma for a long time, and when he slams the hammer, you know what he wants."" Nyamu warned that the ""Omusati clique"" was very dangerous and if not contained now could become a liability to the country and the entire region. ""They behave like a religious cult, they are political vampires and when they smell blood, they attack in numbers."" Nyamu said he had been targeted for some time and Namibia's Attorney General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana once mentioned at a politburo meeting that his notes were working, blaming the outcome of elections in the Otjozondjupa Region on the notes. ""Jerry Ekandjo, who was then the Minister of Home Affairs was circulating the copies of my notes in the politburo meeting and I just wondered where he had obtained them."" The former minister noted that the so-called Omusati clique was not big in numbers but was politically and financially powerful, and hard at work. He also blamed the Nghifitikeko e-mails on this group and said they started as letters in a daily newspaper. ""The Nghifitikeko letter is an ideological mouthpiece of this group and is being financed with state resources. That is why it cannot be stopped."" He however noted that it was not the entire Omusati Region but that the clique originates and is based in the region. ""I do not want to castigate the people from Omusati Region but there are people harbouring fears about others."" Asked about other cliques especially the so-called Kwanyama clique, Nyamu noted that he did not know anything about the Kwa-nyama clique and did not know whether it exists. He only read about it in the Nghifitikeko e-mails. Nyamu also questioned Swapo's decision to ban him from speaking to Swapo members. He claimed that such a move was tantamount to totalitarian rule and Namibians should guard against such tendencies. ""Most of my friends are Swapo members, my wife and children are Swapo members, should I not speak to them?"" He said he did not expect the decision against him to be reversed as long as Nujoma was head of the Swapo party. Approached for comment, Jerry Ekandjo said he was not aware of any cliques within the Swapo party. He said anybody who believes in factions should surrender their swapo membership cards. ""I did not join the Swapo party for anybody but because of its ideals and principles."" Ekandjo noted that anybody who speaks of his supporters while in the Swapo party was in the wrong party and was not worthy of carrying a party card. ""Namibia is one, Swapo is one and we are united and do not believe in tribal politics."" Iivula-Ithana could not be reached for comment." 2005-12-15Staff Report 2
