Political Perspective
SO much for Swapo's show of unity! Clearly all is not well even though Swapo's president-designate, Hifikepunye Pohamba, was at pains to assure the world at a press conference recently that the ruling party was more united than ever before.
While Minister-out-in-the-cold Hidipo Hamutenya was present at the
staged event, he was clearly not impressed and a reluctant
participant in what was evidently a fake show of camaraderie.
OF course it was good that Pohamba called for an end to 'dirty
tricks', promises of jobs and other forms of intimidation that
preceded the Extraordinary Congress vote on Swapo's presidential
candidate; and nice that he acknowledged them.
But it would have been preferable had the President exercised
restraint and not allowed it all to happen in the first place! For
there is little doubt that his ousting of Foreign Affairs Minister
Hamutenya and his deputy just prior to the Congress escalated the
ugliness.
Possibly, Pohamba's rapprochement effort might have met with
more success if the President had left the three candidates to
campaign undeterred from equal platforms and without so obviously
taking sides as he did.
Papering over the cracks won't help now.
Despite Pohamba's appeal, it is clear that feelings won't die
down that quickly.
Hamutenya himself has lost his job, and not because he didn't do
it justice, but because he was a contender for the presidential
crown.
There are obvious concerns that the knives are out for those who
supported Hamutenya, and hopefully this will be disproved in the
course of time as it would be absolutely unacceptable if
retribution became the order of the day simply because people
exercised their democratic rights.
Hamutenya in turn lost his security almost overnight, while
Pohamba now has himself a motorcade! Pohamba may call for an end to
'dirty tricks', but one wonders if all the deals haven't been done
already.
That former Prime Minister Hage Geingob aligned himself so
openly with the President's choice is strange, given he himself got
the boot not too long ago.
Talk of a vice presidency under a Pohamba Government may not be
that far-fetched though, given Geingob's ambitions and a previous
congress where Nujoma tried (unsuccessfully) to put him forward as
his candidate of choice.
So if Swapo really wanted to reinstate unity in the Party,
they'd need to tackle the issue of the unequal treatment meted out
to the three candidates.
Pohamba gets the prize and a motorcade, and goodness knows what
else; Nahas Angula went along for the ride, and is now regarded
with indulgence as a younger cadre who can have a crack at it again
in time and he's still smiling; while Hamutenya is out in the cold
(with the healthy pension that they all get, mind you!) and
probably constantly under the watchful scrutiny of our
not-always-so-intelligent services while he ponders his future!
Then there's further evidence of disunity, with Swapo MPs
sniggering in Parliament when CoD members praise the former Foreign
Minister for coming up with a white paper.
(Can't share the CoD accolades myself, as Hamutenya may have
finished the white paper, but he didn't start it all those years
ago, and at a cursory glance it all looks a bit wishy-washy to
me).
But nevertheless it shows how quickly the tide can turn against
one who was formerly a trusted comrade! How fickle Namibians can
sometimes be.
Nevertheless, there's one ray of light, if the rumours are true
that another Minister turned down the offer of Foreign Affairs,
probably because he didn't want to capitalise on Hamutenya's
demise.
Particularly since that Minister himself had been on the
receiving end of the axe once before! Nice to know there's some
principle left somewhere.
But unity there is not.
And the problem lies not so much in the fact that there's
division (for that's the natural order of things) but in the way
Swapo is trying to pretend they're still all one happy family! Not
so, as time will undoubtedly tell.
OF course it was good that Pohamba called for an end to 'dirty
tricks', promises of jobs and other forms of intimidation that
preceded the Extraordinary Congress vote on Swapo's presidential
candidate; and nice that he acknowledged them.But it would have
been preferable had the President exercised restraint and not
allowed it all to happen in the first place! For there is little
doubt that his ousting of Foreign Affairs Minister Hamutenya and
his deputy just prior to the Congress escalated the
ugliness.Possibly, Pohamba's rapprochement effort might have met
with more success if the President had left the three candidates to
campaign undeterred from equal platforms and without so obviously
taking sides as he did.Papering over the cracks won't help
now.Despite Pohamba's appeal, it is clear that feelings won't die
down that quickly.Hamutenya himself has lost his job, and not
because he didn't do it justice, but because he was a contender for
the presidential crown.There are obvious concerns that the knives
are out for those who supported Hamutenya, and hopefully this will
be disproved in the course of time as it would be absolutely
unacceptable if retribution became the order of the day simply
because people exercised their democratic rights.Hamutenya in turn
lost his security almost overnight, while Pohamba now has himself a
motorcade! Pohamba may call for an end to 'dirty tricks', but one
wonders if all the deals haven't been done already.That former
Prime Minister Hage Geingob aligned himself so openly with the
President's choice is strange, given he himself got the boot not
too long ago.Talk of a vice presidency under a Pohamba Government
may not be that far-fetched though, given Geingob's ambitions and a
previous congress where Nujoma tried (unsuccessfully) to put him
forward as his candidate of choice.So if Swapo really wanted to
reinstate unity in the Party, they'd need to tackle the issue of
the unequal treatment meted out to the three candidates.Pohamba
gets the prize and a motorcade, and goodness knows what else; Nahas
Angula went along for the ride, and is now regarded with indulgence
as a younger cadre who can have a crack at it again in time and
he's still smiling; while Hamutenya is out in the cold (with the
healthy pension that they all get, mind you!) and probably
constantly under the watchful scrutiny of our
not-always-so-intelligent services while he ponders his future!
Then there's further evidence of disunity, with Swapo MPs
sniggering in Parliament when CoD members praise the former Foreign
Minister for coming up with a white paper.(Can't share the CoD
accolades myself, as Hamutenya may have finished the white paper,
but he didn't start it all those years ago, and at a cursory glance
it all looks a bit wishy-washy to me).But nevertheless it shows how
quickly the tide can turn against one who was formerly a trusted
comrade! How fickle Namibians can sometimes be.Nevertheless,
there's one ray of light, if the rumours are true that another
Minister turned down the offer of Foreign Affairs, probably because
he didn't want to capitalise on Hamutenya's demise.Particularly
since that Minister himself had been on the receiving end of the
axe once before! Nice to know there's some principle left
somewhere.But unity there is not.And the problem lies not so much
in the fact that there's division (for that's the natural order of
things) but in the way Swapo is trying to pretend they're still all
one happy family! Not so, as time will undoubtedly tell.