Ghosts of disunity haunt Swapo again

SWAPO is once again trying to shoot down reports of disunity within its ranks, saying “ghost writers” who have recently penned letters to this effect, were deliberately trying to cause division.

Yesterday, Swapo Secretary for Information and Mobilisation and Information Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah condemned in particular a letter published in the Windhoek Observer on July 16, headlined the ‘Secrets of the Swapo Bedroom’ – branding it as “divisive and baseless”. Calling a media conference in Windhoek yesterday, the party said its aim was to alert the nation “not to be detracted from real issues by unscrupulous elements”.In the letter to the Windhoek Observer, a certain Crispin Matengu Kopano maintained that former President Sam Nujoma would not be able to hold on to Swapo’s presidency beyond 2007 and that party members were being misled into believing that the party’s successes were solely attributable to Nujoma.Nandi-Ndaitwah said it was “worrisome” that certain individuals were trying to “destabilise” the country through the “character assassination” of the party’s leaders.She dismissed the information as fabricated.She said letter writing and use of media like the Internet had become powerful tools for disrupting the work of Swapo.”In the case of Namibia, Swapo is the main pillar of stability and cohesion,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah, warning that if the party was weakened, it could lead to ethnic hostility and wars of secession.”Those people who continue writing letters aimed at creating division within Swapo and subsequently destabilise the country and continue to call themselves Swapo members, are fooling themselves,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah.She maintained that if these letter writers indeed were card-carrying members of the party it was purely “an accident of history”.In a letter circulated by a certain ‘Ananias Nghifitikeko’ last week, Nandi-Ndaitwah herself was singled out as an alleged instigator of a campaign to bring fallen Swapo MP Hidipo Hamutenya to power.Steering clear of responding to the personal attack against her, Nandi-Ndaitwah instead said the party dismissed all the information in these letters.Nandi-Ndaitwah repeated that a committee had been appointed by the Politburo, to determine who the letter writers were and establish their motives.”Swapo remains a strong party.Since these things are happening, we can’t leave anything to chance.We must find a way that these people who are trying to bring division are not allowed to succeed, but that they are put to shame,” she told the media.Nandi-Ndaitwah called on Swapo members to prove that they were “wiser” than the letter writers and that they could “see through all the games being played around them”.Calling a media conference in Windhoek yesterday, the party said its aim was to alert the nation “not to be detracted from real issues by unscrupulous elements”.In the letter to the Windhoek Observer, a certain Crispin Matengu Kopano maintained that former President Sam Nujoma would not be able to hold on to Swapo’s presidency beyond 2007 and that party members were being misled into believing that the party’s successes were solely attributable to Nujoma.Nandi-Ndaitwah said it was “worrisome” that certain individuals were trying to “destabilise” the country through the “character assassination” of the party’s leaders.She dismissed the information as fabricated.She said letter writing and use of media like the Internet had become powerful tools for disrupting the work of Swapo.”In the case of Namibia, Swapo is the main pillar of stability and cohesion,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah, warning that if the party was weakened, it could lead to ethnic hostility and wars of secession.”Those people who continue writing letters aimed at creating division within Swapo and subsequently destabilise the country and continue to call themselves Swapo members, are fooling themselves,” said Nandi-Ndaitwah.She maintained that if these letter writers indeed were card-carrying members of the party it was purely “an accident of history”.In a letter circulated by a certain ‘Ananias Nghifitikeko’ last week, Nandi-Ndaitwah herself was singled out as an alleged instigator of a campaign to bring fallen Swapo MP Hidipo Hamutenya to power.Steering clear of responding to the personal attack against her, Nandi-Ndaitwah instead said the party dismissed all the information in these letters.Nandi-Ndaitwah repeated that a committee had been appointed by the Politburo, to determine who the letter writers were and establish their motives.”Swapo remains a strong party.Since these things are happening, we can’t leave anything to chance.We must find a way that these people who are trying to bring division are not allowed to succeed, but that they are put to shame,” she told the media.Nandi-Ndaitwah called on Swapo members to prove that they were “wiser” than the letter writers and that they could “see through all the games being played around them”.