Former ambassador Samuel Nuuyoma says Swapo is not corrupt and that their presidential candidate, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, will continue the anti-graft fight without fear or favour if she occupies the highest office in the land.
Nuuyoma was speaking at a mini-rally held on Saturday afternoon in Swakopmund’s Democratic informal settlement, where the party welcomed over 1 350 new members.
The new members received their membership cards as well as new Swapo t-shirts during the mini-rally. According to Nuuyoma, Swapo is not corrupt, but some individuals are, hence Nandi-Ndaitwah’s vow to root out corruption.
“I can assure you that it will not be business as usual, as she meant what she said,” he said.
He compared corruption to that of a family setup, explaining that each family might have a corrupt child, but that does not mean that the whole household is corrupt.
“It is the same with Swapo, the party is not corrupt; there are corrupt individuals because foreign forces are using them to disrupt the world. The same can be said about our household. One corrupt individual in a family doesn’t mean the whole family is corrupt, or the parents are corrupt,” he said.
Over the years, Swapo’s top leaders have reiterated their anti-corruption gospel, maintaining that when individuals engage in corrupt practices, they do so in their capacities.
Their conduct has nothing to do with Swapo they have maintained.
Back in 2020, Nandi-Ndaitwah lashed out at opposition parties for criticising Swapo for gross corruption in the fishing sector, saying members of their formations, too, benefited through fishing quotas. In no uncertain terms, she divorced Swapo from individual members’ alleged involvement in the corruption scheme.
At the time, she was responding to queries on the Fishrot scandal, which allegedly robbed the Namibian economy of at least N$3 billion.
At the time, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also rejected any links between Swapo and the scandal.
“Fishrot has nothing to do with Swapo,” she said.
The Swapo vice president stressed: “Fishrot is a case of serious allegations. Let the law take its course. [Those implicated] are Swapo members and members of this country. We are not defending anyone. They are in prison.”
- edeklerk@nepc.com.na