Were The Elections Free And Fair?

ELECTIONS would be fair if those who vote elected their representatives freely without any pressure or any form of intimidation or character assassination? I strongly feel that (the Swapo Congress) elections were not free and fair.

The sacking of our visionary, capable Hamutenya just before

elections and smear campaigns against him by Nujoma on several

occasions will never make this election free and fair.

I would not expect any rational person to believe what has been

said about Hamutenya by those who did so, including the

President.

 

We expected the President to tell the nation and the Congress in

particular that these are tested comrades and the everybody should

make his/her own choice accordingly.

 

He is now claiming that the Congress has voted in the interest

of the whole nation.

 

This is totally wrong.

 

The congress has voted for Nujoma's unknown interests.

 

If the entire nation was afforded a chance to elect, I think the

results could have been different.

 

The fact that Pohamba came with a pre-prepared speech for the

victory shows us that the results were predetermined and the

transparency used in the counting processes is questionable.

 

We considered Sam Nujoma as the great founding father of our

nation and indeed a visionary leader of Africa but this was not

so.

 

Nujoma is increasingly becoming a hardcore despot.

 

He thinks he can turn things around, ceteris paribus.

 

Firing senior ministers and indeed cabinet members who served

for decades is a big embarrassment to him and to the public.

 

Does this mean Swapo party does not have internal disciplinary

procedures to deal with unfounded defaming allegations? He keeps on

referring to others as imperialists and forgets that he went to the

same imperialists to negotiate for Namibia's independence.

 

His prerogative is being seriously misused.

 

Some ministers are so much preferred that firing them would

destabilise the country's peace and stability and dissolve the

gains of our hard-won independence.

 

This is also a sign that Swapo is slowly but surely

disintegrating.

 

I think this was the wrong decision at the wrong time.

 

All the peace loving Namibians (perhaps excluding despots,

opportunists, presidential remote controls, political armatures,

and power-hungry hereby sympathise with Hamutenya and his

deputy.

 

We are already missing his intellectual leadership which we

always admired.

 

S Nanghambe

Swakopmund

 

I would not expect any rational person to believe what has been

said about Hamutenya by those who did so, including the

President.We expected the President to tell the nation and the

Congress in particular that these are tested comrades and the

everybody should make his/her own choice accordingly.He is now

claiming that the Congress has voted in the interest of the whole

nation.This is totally wrong.The congress has voted for Nujoma's

unknown interests.If the entire nation was afforded a chance to

elect, I think the results could have been different.The fact that

Pohamba came with a pre-prepared speech for the victory shows us

that the results were predetermined and the transparency used in

the counting processes is questionable.We considered Sam Nujoma as

the great founding father of our nation and indeed a visionary

leader of Africa but this was not so.Nujoma is increasingly

becoming a hardcore despot.He thinks he can turn things around,

ceteris paribus.Firing senior ministers and indeed cabinet members

who served for decades is a big embarrassment to him and to the

public.Does this mean Swapo party does not have internal

disciplinary procedures to deal with unfounded defaming

allegations? He keeps on referring to others as imperialists and

forgets that he went to the same imperialists to negotiate for

Namibia's independence.His prerogative is being seriously

misused.Some ministers are so much preferred that firing them would

destabilise the country's peace and stability and dissolve the

gains of our hard-won independence.This is also a sign that Swapo

is slowly but surely disintegrating.I think this was the wrong

decision at the wrong time.All the peace loving Namibians (perhaps

excluding despots, opportunists, presidential remote controls,

political armatures, and power-hungry hereby sympathise with

Hamutenya and his deputy.We are already missing his intellectual

leadership which we always admired.S Nanghambe

Swakopmund

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