Fireworks expected at SPYL meeting

THE Swapo Party Youth League will hold a potentially watershed Central Committee meeting at Swakopmund today amidst reports of division and threats of a boycott among its members.

Former youth league leader Paulus Kapia will ‘speak his mind’ as a guest speaker at the opening of the CC meeting, as the youth wing gears to fight off allegations of tribalism and favouritism from within.Media reports this week claimed that the SPYL CC was split into two groups headed by its secretary, Elijah Ngurare, and his deputy, Jutta Shikomba.Shikomba’s camp, which includes the likes of Peya Mushelenga, Juliet Kavetuna and Julius Namoloh, is alleged to have claimed that Ngurare had formed a clique around himself, with the likes of Clinton Swartbooi, Veikko Nekundi and Mandela Kapere mentioned in the same breath.Both Ngurare and Shikomba have publicly denied the allegations of a rift.The Namibian, however, understands the one group tried to boycott the Swakopmund meeting but did not get enough support from fellow Central Committee members and the regions.’They will go and try to articulate their case. There is a belief among some people that they are not consulted by Ngurare,’ said one source.It is believed that the division had deeper roots in party politics and the race for a successor to President Hifikepunye Pohamba as leader of the party and the country.Although Hage Geingob, as Swapo vice president, is seen by some as the automatic choice, it is believed that some people in the party’s Central Committee want a different candidate.The SPYL and the National Union of Namibian Workers seem to support the notion of Geingob as the automatic choice.Kapia said he has been invited to encourage and advise the youth on future challenges.’I will encourage them to be pro-active on issues affecting the future of the country. The division is not really my concern at this stage. Those are internal issues which you find in any organisation but I have full trust in the leadership to deal with it. There is no need for my intervention,’ Kapia told The Namibian.Reports circulating among some SPYL members were that Ngurare had surrounded himself with people who were not elected into office and had given them too much power.Those who support Ngurare said he had brought in Swartbooi (Nama), Nekundi (Oshiwambo), Kapere (Otjiherero), Charles Siyauya from the Caprivi Region and Eveline Nawases (Damara) to make it a national forum.’For the first time it is truly national. Previously you had no Nama-speaking person or a person from Caprivi. Ngurare wanted to reflect his ideas about leadership,’ one person said.The source wondered why Shikomba was dragged into the fight since she got her position after Nekundi withdrew as a candidate at the last SPYL congress and there had been no visible differences between her and Ngurare.