SWAPO – Page 3 – Windhoek Observer

28 Aug

‘Good riddance’: Shaningwa on resignations

ObserverObserver MoneyAffirmative Repositioning (AR), Job Amupanda, Knowledge Iipinge, Panduleni Iitula, SWAPO

Andrew Kathindi Swapo party Secretary General (SG) Sophia Shaningwa has said good riddance after a number of opinionated, outspoken youthful members, including Job Amupanda, officially resigned as members of the ruling party on Wednesday. The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader along with a number of former Swapo party youth league members, including Walvis Bay constituency councilor Knowledge Iipinge, officially left the party in a coordinated effort on Heroes’ Day, attributing their decision to not wanting to be associated with the “corrupt” Swapo party. Shaningwa, however, welcomed their departure, stating that it was a “headache off her shoulders as a Secretary General…

04 Aug

Shiimi in tribalism storm . . . as opposition parties push back

ObserverObserver MoneyIipumbu Shiimi, SWAPO

Andrew Kathindi Opposition party leaders have hit back at Finance Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi for claims that new political parties were being founded by tribalists. On his social media page, Shiimi stated, “Tribalism will destroy Namibia as it has done in some countries. I am concerned about new political parties/associations that are being formed by tribalists. True Namibians should reject these tribal projects.” Shiimi’s comments were met with a barrage of criticism. It is believed that his comments may have been aimed at parties such as Landless People’s Movement (LPM), which was formed in 2018. Its leader, Bernadus Swartbooi has been…

21 Jul

Civil Rights Icon, advocate for Namibian Independence, dead at age 80

ObserverUncategorisedNamibia, Namibians, SWAPO

… Representative John Lewis passes on Jackie Wilson Asheeke So many Namibians today have never heard of John Lewis. And yet, he and many other members of the US Congressional Black Caucus in the pre-independence days had heard of Namibia. Representative Lewis and many US legislators made speeches regularly denouncing US political and economic support for white supremacy in Africa. Now, John Lewis’ time is passed and he has gone home to a well-earned rest. In the several times I met him during the height of my group’s anti-apartheid work in Washington, DC back in the day, I found him…

13 Jul

Geingob takes the low road

ObserverNational NewsSophia Shaningwa, SWAPO, Swapo Party

On Sunday, we were expecting a firm, unequivocal refutation of accusations of any and all links to Swapo from the Fishrot scandal. We didn’t get it. Geingob took the low road. He presented defensive bluster and selective phrasing in his qualified denial that Swapo fingers are in the fish pie. The president of Swapo held his media conference on Sunday where he says people “will not see any money [in Swapo accounts] coming from Fishrot.” The notoriously media-hostile and inarticulate Swapo Party Secretary-General, Sophia Shaningwa, spoke up. She invited “anyone” to contact the Swapo office to access party financial records.…

09 Jul

Swapo unmoved by new parties

ObserverObserver MoneyElectoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), Hilma Ndinelago Nicanor, Job Amupanda, Panduleni Itula, SWAPO, Swapo Party

Andrew Kathindi The ruling Swapo party says it is not moved by news of political parties being formed by former members and registered to contest the upcoming local elections. This comes after Panduleni Itula, who last year contested the presidential elections, and narrowly lost to President Hage Geingob, lodged an application with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to register a political party. Itula was expelled from the party earlier this year for contesting as an independent candidate. Recently, Job Amupanda, leader of the Affirmative Repositioning movement also announced that the movement would register as a political organization to contest…

03 Jul

Namibia’s Long Road to National Reconciliation – Part 2

ObserverUncategorisedpresident Hage Geingob, SWAPO

Oiva Angula All Namibians know it was war, but wars are less chaotic than they appear. Pain, suffering and death are inflicted on someone’s orders. And wars have laws – some are supposed to protect even ‘enemy spies’ by treating them humanely in all circumstances. Protecting such ‘spies’ against murder, torture, humiliating or degrading treatment, and providing such ‘spies’ a fair trial was and is in line with international law. In dealing with the spy hysteria “Swapo perfidiously defied all established international protocols regarding armed conflicts,” says Pauline Dempers, the BWS national coordinator. The Swapo Party has through the years,…

03 Jul

Namibia’s long road to national reconciliation – Part 1

ObserverUncategorisedLubango, Namibia, SWAPO

Oiva Angula The two past weeks, Namibia’s National Assembly has been embroiled in a dramatic, sometimes bitter, debate about national reconciliation. This is not the first such debate since independence in 1990. Namibia seems to be burdened with a lingering wound of its past with some sections of society still crying for reconciliation, social integration and national healing. The great hope of a society based on social cohesion as promised at independence appears illusive for some Namibians. As a survivor of Swapo’s Lubango prison camps, Tangeni Mureko, 49, needed no reminder of how painful it was to live; how terrible…

03 Jul

Stop using Nujoma – it exposes him

ObserverNational NewsFounding President Sam Nujoma, Parliament, SWAPO

National icons must not be used to prop up the speeches of politicians who have no skill at oratory and little idea of how to make a strong verbal argument. Doreen Sioka, a Swapo MP, this week used excerpts from the book written by Founding President Sam Nujoma. She was making her party's points in Parliament. By doing this, she exposed the founding leader to rebuttal. She used the great man as her shield. Subsequently, the ‘Nujoma’ shield was hit with incoming spears from an instigated opposition. People will not genuflect and capitulate when they hear the name Nujoma. The…

03 Jul

Nujoma caught in crossfire – KK

ObserverObserver MoneyDoreen Sioka, Kazenambo Kazenambo, Landless People’s Movement (LPM), Nahas Angula, Sam Nujoma, SWAPO

Staff Writer Former Youth minister, Kazenambo Kazenambo says the public anger directed at Landless People's Movement (LPM) leader, Bernadus Swartbooi is misdirected, as he is not causing division but his actions are simply a symptom of the greater disunity in the country. This comes after Swartbooi was heavily criticized by former Prime Minister Nahas Angula, who accused the firebrand leader LPM leader of dividing the nation. This berating follows the LPM MP’s his incendiary comments about Founding President Sam Nujoma. In response to arguments made by Swapo MP, Doreen Sioka, he disparaged the Founding President’s book and called the author…

19 Jun

Job vs Swapo is not the point . . . inclusive democracy is

ObserverNational NewsAffirmative Repositioning (AR), City of Windhoek, Electoral Commission of Namibia, Job Amupanda, SWAPO

The new normal could mean a serious reconsideration of proportional representation in Parliament and an end to parties making decisions about who represents people locally. Affirmative Repositioning (AR) has registered with the Electoral Commission of Namibia in time for the upcoming 2020 local authority and regional council elections. AR co-leader Job Amupanda has had long-stated aspirations to be the Mayor of the City of Windhoek. The stage has been set for an exercise in inclusive democracy that is long overdue in Namibia. Namibian politics has shifted significantly from where things were in March 1990. The world has altered remarkably since…