Swapo yesterday unveiled a 34-member think tank consisting of heavyweights in academia and state-owned enterprises at a media briefing in Windhoek. 

Some of the cadres appointed have been retained from the previous think tank. The think tank will serve until next year. 

Secretary general Sophia Shaningwa said the think tank will serve as the research arm of the party and be chaired by Andrew Niikondo, the vice chancellor for academic affairs of the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST).  Martina Mokgatle-Aukhumes will serve as deputy chairperson, and Messag Mulunga as secretary. “During the Swapo Party National Dialogue on the State of Politics and Society (party introspection) which took place from 24 to 27 July 2020, it was deemed necessary to restructure the Swapo think tank. 

This position was subsequently cemented by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and also by the Central Committee itself,” said Shaningwa.  

The think tank will guide the party in policy formulation, and be made up of eight sectoral clusters, namely inner-party governance, economics, infrastructure and services, social, defence and security, implementation and monitoring, diplomacy and jurisprudence, information, science and technology and an editorial committee. 

The think tank members will, therefore, assign themselves into clusters depending on their expertise.  “Your main mission is to provide evidence-based policy options on political, economic, social, scientific and technological issues to Swapo and her government through consultancy, advocacy and research, using appropriate technology,” she added.  Shaningwa said “there will be no remuneration to the members of the think tank.”

She reminded the members that “we have less than five months to host our next national policy conference, whereby the think tank is expected to develop draft policies and research papers for consideration at this important conference. Therefore, total commitment by the members of the think tank is expected.”