Attempt to oust SPYL’s Ngurare fails

THE Swapo succession fight started in earnest this past weekend when the Geingob faction in the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) for a second time failed to oust its secretary, Elijah Ngurare, during a Central Committee meeting.

In a surprise move, SPYL’s secretary for labour and justice, Sacky Shanghala, a confidant of Swapo secretary general and Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, spearheaded the attempt to get rid of Ngurare.Swapo’s vice president, Hage Geingob, and Iivula-Ithana are the main contenders to take over from President Hifikepunye Pohamba at the party’s watershed congress towards the end of this year. During an SPYL Central Committee meeting on May 23 last year, the same faction failed to push through a motion to suspend Ngurare and at that stage Swapo’s regional coordinator of Oshikoto, Armas Amukwiyu, was the driving force behind it.“It is important for some presidential contenders to get rid of Ngurare before the party’s congress at the end of the year but as was the case with the previous attempt, they again failed dismally,” a Central Committee member told The Namibian.During his opening address of this weekend’s meeting, Swapo’s secretary for information and mobilisation, Jerry Ekandjo, warned that differences should not be seen as problems that will destroy Swapo but rather as challenges testing leadership capabilities to exercise wisdom to overcome them in favour for a common future for a better Namibia.“You will agree with me, comrades, that continuing with your internal squabbles and personal infighting is not productive. It is also not an inspirational example to our pioneers and younger leaders that are being prepared to take over from you.” Plans were underway to replace Ngurare with the beleaguered SPYL regional secretary of Hardap, Titus /Huisemab, in an acting position, until the Swapo youth wing will have its congress towards the end of August this year. Apparently the group was so confident that they would succeed in suspending Ngurare that they even approached members to act on a disciplinary committee against the “ousted” SPYL leader.However, /Huisemab’s alleged short temper brought him into disrepute last year when he allegedly attacked Hendrik Boostander, a former boyfriend of his sister, with an iron bar and a kierie at Aranos. His trial on a charge of attempted murder is coming up at the beginning of November at Mariental.Boostander was seriously injured and doctors said at the time that he was lucky to survive.The initial argument against Ngurare that he suspended the deputy secretary, Jutta Shikomba, because of a “personal and private fall-out” bordering on solicitation of sexual favours also fell through, as the matter could not be decided on by the Central Committee and should rather be taken up in the criminal court.At the same time the Geingob faction was referred to an earlier meeting when Shikomba was suspended by the Central Committee at Okahandja. An investigating committee into allegations of promoting tribalism among youth members, under the chairmanship of Shanghala, reported back at that meeting that Shikomba refused to be interviewed.She was requested to apologise to the committee but she did not accept the request claiming that it was her “democratic right guaranteed in the Namibian Constitution not to appear in front of the investigation committee”. The Central Committee regarded this as an affront to the SPYL constitution.Both Ngurare and Shikomba were then excused from the Okahandja meeting and Otjiwarongo regional councillor Otto Iipinge took over as chairperson. Iipinge is also part of the Geingob group.It was then in the absence of Ngurare that Shikomba’s behaviour was regarded as a dangerous precedent and that she should be suspended.“When the members have been reminded about the minutes of that meeting, that group’s last argument fell through,” said a Central Committee member.The SPYL congress is scheduled from August 28 to September 2 and at this stage it is not clear whether Ngurare will stand for the leadership position.