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Friday, October 28, 2005 - Web posted at 7:03:07 GMT Kapia's fate sealed *CHRISTOF MALETSKYTHE drawn-out battle within Swapo over the fate of Paulus Kapia ended yesterday with the news that the MP has finally relinquished his seat in the National Assembly. |
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Kapia resigned on Wednesday after the politburo gave him 24 hours to do so or face being booted from the party. In the process, the party is said to have set a precedent that many hope will be followed when other top party officials are implicated in corrupt activities. Kapia's resignation was confirmed by party President Sam Nujoma at a press conference in Windhoek yesterday morning. He said the embattled youth leader would no longer be a Member of Parliament as from Tuesday, November 1. Kapia himself issued a statement later in the day, confirming that his appeal had been unsuccessful although he still believed that he was innocent with his involvement in the bungled Avid-SSC N$30 million investment. "I further reiterate and record that I have never accepted from or offered to anybody bribes, in relation to such investment," Kapia said. The suspended youth leader said he was facing the "most difficult, trying and testing time" of his life as he awaits a "fair, objective and speedy investigation" by the party. Nujoma, however, announced Kapia's resignation as a fact and did not mention any further investigations into the matter. Next on the Swapo candidates' list is former Foreign Affairs Minister Hidipo Hamutenya. He has yet to say whether he will return to Parliament. Sources said those closest to Kapia tried to argue in Tuesday's politburo meeting that there were other cases of corruption and alleged "unpatriotic elements" who remained unscathed in the party. "That was shot down. The politburo was told that it met to deal with the Kapia issue and the Ananias letters," said one source. Kapia's case is seen as having widened divisions among the top party leadership while others said many in the politburo have now started questioning Nujoma's actions - something that hardly ever happened in the past. "He [Kapia] is very close to Nujoma and no one thought he would go. I think he was badly let down by those he thought would stand by him," said another. One source said the fact that the politburo forced Kapia to resign meant that the balance of power there had shifted away from Nujoma. Yet, others claimed that the party leadership would now be forced to publicly refute allegations levelled this week by Nudo MP Arnold Tjihuiko that the party condoned corruption. Tjihuiko alleged that Swapo had condoned corrupt practices as far back as the early 1990s by failing to act against those implicated in the borehole-ostrich scandal and the fraud and bribery in the upgrading of the Katutura Single Quarters. Tjihuiko sparked an uproar when he singled out Minister Without Portfolio Ngarikutuke Tjiriange and former Works Minister Moses Amweelo as two of many he felt should have been axed for their alleged role in dubious activities. "[If the findings of the] numerous presidential commissions of inquiry reports were revealed, I believe that some of the colleagues sitting here demanding Honourable Kapia's suspension would not have been sitting here," he boldly remarked. All indications yesterday were that some of the findings of past commissions and other investigations might now be dusted off and made public. "Everyone involved in corruption must face the same music," said one bitter Swapo member. Only time will tell how the leadership will deal with the division that is clearly widening despite several meetings and workshops to address the issue. |
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