Staff Reporter
Swapo members who were born in exile have expressed concern over ructions in the governing party. Namibian Exile Kids Association (NEKA) secretary general Mao Angula said the organisation is worried over the high degree of “cancerous symptoms of disunity and tribalism” that have of late eroded the spinal cord of the former liberation movement, Swapo.
He said in a statement on Sunday that the organisation has observed with a sense of displeasure the imminent battle for the soul of the party.
“This is evident among the rank and file of the party. This is argumentatively due to irreconcilable and diverse political ideologies held within the party by individuals,” Angula noted.
He said the lack of convergence on an ideal, collective and sustainable ideology has shattered the dreams and aspirations of many young Swapo cadres.
“Many young people have adopted a “wait and see” approach towards the party. This reversal and counter-revolutionary attitude has cost the party dearly in the past elections,” he added.
Angula stressed that what is currently happening in the party will require competent and skillful people to save the party from drowning and extinction.
“As we approach the 2022 Swapo party elective congress, the values that underpinned our existence of solidarity, freedom and justice must at all material times reign supreme,” he continued.
He said in line with the aims and objectives of the party constitution, the leadership should ensure that it unites the people of Namibia across all 14 regions.
Swapo party secretary general Sophia Shaningwa said while addressing the party’s Elders Council Committee meeting recently that party wings must always renew their mandates as per the party procedures as it cannot hold a congress with structures that had expired. There is no way the party will mobilise effectively if the structures are not in place, come the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly elections, she observed.
Swapo president Hage Geingob also recently called on the party’s elected representatives to demonstrate the knowledge and ability to deliver goods and services to the people, and to inspire confidence to secure the necessary votes for the party.
Geingob said during the opening of the central committee meeting in May that following the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections, Swapo undertook an introspective meeting, which was attended by the senior leadership, regional leadership, respective wings and a large majority of the Swapo rank and file.
However, he is aware that in the aftermath of the regional councils and local authorities’ elections of 2020, some have claimed that Swapo lost and most disturbingly, some of the party’s very own members have fallen prey to this defeatist frame of mind.
“Let me make it categorically clear – Swapo did not lose the elections. Yes, we suffered setbacks in some towns, but overall Swapo achieved victory, albeit with a reduced majority,” Geingob stated.
“The party must at all times defend the blood of our mothers and fathers who sacrificed their lives for the armed liberation struggle of our motherland,” Angula said.
Furthermore, he added that for the party to fulfill its constitutional mandate, there is a need to ensure that all members remain true to the values and ethos of the party.
“We need to ensure that the party structures remain strengthened, and as such NEKA calls upon its entire broad membership to actively participate in the renewal of the mandate for the leadership structures,” he said.
The association would thus continue to work closely with the party’s leadership to ensure that the gains of the liberation struggle are not reversed and betrayed.
“NEKA calls upon the spirit of our heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle to anoint the party with a sense of unity of purpose to usher and prepare her people in the final stage of the economic revolution,” he said.