Martin Olembe Antindi

Firstly, I will start off with explaining what this heading means. Virtually, we have come to understand that Swapo as an organisation has always been a people`s organisation that has been loved so much, henceforth, the members of the Swapo party like myself call ourselves Swapos out of love and mere belonging. From my observation and experience, it is the same Swapo party members that are plotting the downfall of the mighty party; if we don’t realise this early then we expect catastrophe, from my own analysis, and the indecisive party leadership is the first to be blamed for this possible slump in the greatness of the mighty Swapo. 

True Swapo party members will not only protect the party from the outsiders, but also from the insiders – these could be comrades that disguise themselves as loyal members or leaders that are not necessarily there for the party, but for themselves and their immediate family. Last year we lost our two-third majority in the National Assembly – this is worrisome and very serious. One conclusion that can be drawn from that is that the party has lost members, and here we say Swapo is the people and the people are Swapo. What happens then to the party when people lose hope in the party, and eventually desert the party, will Swapo be the people?

Let us root out corrupt members that are costing us the party and restore the hope and trust of our people – these are the few individuals that are in the party to serve their interest. The Fishrot scandal was supposed to be handled in a manner that clearly demonstrates that individual members are not bigger than the party. What choice did we opt for from the Fishrot scandal, did we opt to save the party and restore the hope of the members or did we save the individuals and let the party go down the drain? I want to make a very strong declaration that I have decided to take on whoever is contributing to the downfall of the party. Our SPYL is another liability to the party – there might be one or two that could be confident enough to raise issues, but most of them are cowardly, too quiet to speak against scandals such as Fishrot or other corrupt cases that are known to the public. Chances could be that they could have possibly benefited as well, nobody knows. 
I want to make an open call that any party member in leadership that`s implicated in corruption or is holding a criminal record must resign with immediate effect. Let’s save Swapo from these liabilities, they want to cling to those positions until when you have seen the party in the grave, or what purpose does it serve of being there, let’s introspect ourselves. 

I used to be a defender of my party – I can proudly say that I’m one of the dominant Swapo party foot soldiers defending the party on social media as well as on the ground openly. In 2014, when some youth members established  Affirmative Repositioning (AR) due to their dissatisfaction with the party, I was one of the very vocal youth leaders that stood up and strongly condemned their unconstitutional conduct; I was then hurled with a lot of derogatory insults.

This time I am going to defend the party from corrupt individuals that are violating the Swapo constitution. 
In my view the party suspended the kingpin of Affirmative Repositioning for the party constitutional violation – my question is was their crime more severe than the Fishrot scandal that did not only ruin the image of the party, but negatively impacted on the lives of the citizens? In my opinion, I would suggest that all members that are involved in the Fishrot deserve to be axed or suspended from the party. Party members with criminal records were not supposed to be allowed to go to parliament, so now we are going to have laws made by criminals. 
This is not personal, but in the interest of the party, we are in a new era of 21st century, it is no longer business as usual, we are digging a wider grave for Swapo, all of us members, for being too cowardly and indecisive to make decisions that will see Swapo ruling this country for more decades. 

Speaking and condemning corruption openly is a remarkable step fighting corruption; I can no longer be quiet about injustices for me to prove that I m a royal member of the Swapo party, in fact I will prove more that I’m a loyal member of Swapo by defending it from whoever is putting the party into disrepute. If our comradeship and friendship relied on this cowardly quietness, then it holds no meaning and value. Those that will ask why comrade Olembe did not use structures to air my views, I will answer you here, that when some of you individuals indulge in corrupt activities, do use party structures; when you give each other money and tenders, do you use party structures, I am asking you. They use your their own way, so I’m airing my views my own way.