Hamutenya Leads The Field

PLEASE allow me space in your newspaper to express my opinion about the three Swapo presidential candidates The atmosphere and the debate around the nomination of three Swapo candidates for the presidency of Namibia is heating up and getting increasingly interesting as the date for the decisive congress is approaching.

It will be interesting to know what is going through the minds of congress delegates who will have the direct responsibility to elect the man who will succeed President Nujoma as Namibian president. For a good choice to be made congress delegates need to know the candidates.It is true that all three are comrades and have been members of the Swapo leadership for a long time.Now they are three presidential nominees and thus a choice has to be made so that one of them becomes the next president of Namibia.They are different individuals with different personal qualities, and as such will have different leadership qualities and approaches.Just as the same can be said with confidence that nobody will be able to copy Persistent Nujoma’s leadership style.The challenge to congress delegates is to choose the individual with the best personal and leadership qualities from the three candidates having similar political credentials.To choose the candidate with the best personal and leadership qualities, congress delegates need to look at the performance of each candidate during the struggle and after independence, as well as at their vision for the country.It is now known (either as seen or as reported by the three candidates) that the past performances of Hamutenya and Angula are unquestionably excellent.They both contributed immensely to the education and training of Namibians abroad.In contrast, the impact of Pohamba’s past performance, particularly as SWAPO Secretary for Finance, could not easily be recognised.He might have done much more elsewhere, which he still needs to explain to congress delegates for a better assessment of his past performance.Congress delegates also need to use the three candidates’ performance after independence to assess their personal and leadership qualities.There have been ‘logical transitions’ for Hamutenya and Angula in terms of responsibilities from abroad to Namibia.They moved as expected from Secretaries to Ministers of Information and Broadcasting and Education respectively.In contrast, Cde. Pohamba did not enjoy the privilege of this logical transition.His transition from Swapo Finance Secretary to Minister without portfolio was quite incomprehensible.One would have expected him to be the first finance minister in an independent Namibia, after serving as Swapo Finance Secretary for a long time.It is, therefore, highly questionable why this logical transition did not apply to him.It is helpful for congress delegates to use the performances of the three presidential candidates during the past fourteen years of independence to assess their personal and leadership qualities in order to make the best choice.There is enough evidence that wherever Hamutenya went there have been visible achievements.However all successes are not devoid of setbacks, and as he puts it “you don’t fail if you don’t initiate”.In comparison Angula’s performance during the past fourteen years has been variable.First Education that was given to him at independence was later divided into two taking Basic Education from him and leaving him with Higher Education, Technology and Employment Creation This might have given an impression that he could not manage the full portfolio.Pohamba’s performance during the past fourteen years is incompatible with the other two candidates’ performances.There are few land reform achievements to show.The vision of each the three presidential candidates can assist congress delegates to choose the next president.All the candidates seek to create better living standards for Namibians through the National Development Plan II (NDP II) and Vision 2030, as decided on by Swapo and the Government.However, at individual level Cde. Hamutenya has given a more credible explanation as to how he will achieve the objectives of both NDP II and Vision 2030.For example, he spoke about setting “milestones” in order to identify the specific stages of progression of the above-mentioned national plans, economic expansion and creating opportunities for the Namibian people.The explanation of Angula’s personal vision is broad.He spoke about “fairness” without a clear definition of it.It is, arguably, not easy to produce “fairness” for all.What is fair for one may not be fair for the other.So, “fairness” is relative and difficult to achieve.Pohamba’s personal vision is not clearly explained.He appears to insist on loyalty to the Party and its objectives, by “making sure” these are followed.But by doing so he is not beating any of the other two candidates, for they also qualify in being loyal to the Party.It is trusted that congress delegates will put emotions aside and choose the candidate with appropriate personal and leadership qualities for a president.These qualities should include the ability to command respect among your comrades as opposed to fear, being strong-minded (because the country requires taking tough decisions sometimes), visionary, self-confident, creative, unselfish, etc.The presidential candidate also needs to have some appropriate exposure and experience to perform at presidential level.This is not only going to allow for a logical transition’ again, but is also going to assist the person to perform better.What is at stake here is not only the leadership of the country, but is also its image abroad and relations with other countries.So, congress delegates will have to decide whether it is logical or not to promote someone from Lands, Higher Education or Foreign Affairs to president, considering the need for ‘appropriate exposure’.Present Party positions should not be a determining factor here, because the occupation of a certain Party position might not be meritorious.It must be remembered that the succession is for the country’s president, not for the Party president.If I had the privilege to vote at the coming congress based on what is known so far about the three presidential candidates Hamutenya scores highest, all things considered.Followed by the ‘teacher’ Angula.He is more a ‘teacher’ than a manager.Perhaps his managerial skills can still be tested by giving him the next premiership.It is unfortunate that I have to disagree with President Nujoma, whose nominee for the presidency does not appear to match the job.CH Mwandingi WindhoekFor a good choice to be made congress delegates need to know the candidates.It is true that all three are comrades and have been members of the Swapo leadership for a long time.Now they are three presidential nominees and thus a choice has to be made so that one of them becomes the next president of Namibia.They are different individuals with different personal qualities, and as such will have different leadership qualities and approaches.Just as the same can be said with confidence that nobody will be able to copy Persistent Nujoma’s leadership style.The challenge to congress delegates is to choose the individual with the best personal and leadership qualities from the three candidates having similar political credentials.To choose the candidate with the best personal and leadership qualities, congress delegates need to look at the performance of each candidate during the struggle and after independence, as well as at their vision for the country.It is now known (either as seen or as reported by the three candidates) that the past performances of Hamutenya and Angula are unquestionably excellent.They both contributed immensely to the education and training of Namibians abroad.In contrast, the impact of Pohamba’s past performance, particularly as SWAPO Secretary for Finance, could not easily be recognised.He might have done much more elsewhere, which he still needs to explain to congress delegates for a better assessment of his past performance.Congress delegates also need to use the three candidates’ performance after independence to assess their personal and leadership qualities.There have been ‘logical transitions’ for Hamutenya and Angula in terms of responsibilities from abroad to Namibia.They moved as expected from Secretaries to Ministers of Information and Broadcasting and Education respectively.In contrast, Cde. Pohamba did not enjoy the privilege of this logical transition.His transition from Swapo Finance Secretary to Minister without portfolio was quite incomprehensible.One would have expected him to be the first finance minister in an independent Namibia, after serving as Swapo Finance Secretary for a long time.It is, therefore, highly questionable why this logical transition did not apply to him.It is helpful for congress delegates to use the performances of the three presidential candidates during the past fourteen years of independence to assess their personal and leadership qualities in order to make the best choice.There is enough evidence that wherever Hamutenya went there have been visible achievements.However all successes are not devoid of setbacks, and as he puts it “you don’t fail if you don’t initiate”.In comparison Angula’s performance during the past fourteen years has been variable.First Education that was given to him at independence was later divided into two taking Basic Education from him and leaving him with Higher Education, Technology and Employment Creation This might have given an impression that he could not manage the full portfolio.Pohamba’s performance during the past fourteen years is incompatible with the other two candidates’ performances.There are few land reform achievements to show.The vision of each the three presidential candidates can assist congress delegates to choose the next president.All the candidates seek to create better living standards for Namibians through the National Development Plan II (NDP II) and Vision 2030, as decided on by Swapo and the Government.However, at individual level Cde. Hamutenya has given a more credible explanation as to how he will achieve the objectives of both NDP II and Vision 2030.For example, he spoke about setting “milestones” in order to identify the specific stages of progression of the above-mentioned national plans, economic expansion and creating opportunities for the Namibian people.The explanation of Angula’s personal vision is broad.He spoke about “fairness” without a clear definition of it.It is, arguably, not easy to produce “fairness” for all.What is fair for one may not be fair for the other.So, “fairness” is relative and difficult to achieve.Pohamba’s personal vision is not clearly explained.He appears to insist on loyalty to the Party and its objectives, by “making sure” these are followed.But by doing so he is not beating any of the other two candidates, for they also qualify in being loyal to the Party.It is trusted that congress delegates will put emotions aside and choose the candidate with appropriate personal and leadership qualities for a president.These qualities should include the ability to command respect among your comrades as opposed to fear, being strong-minded (because the country requires taking tough decisions sometimes), visionary, self-confident, creative, unselfish, etc.The presidential candidate also needs to have some appropriate exposure and experience to perform at presidential level.This is not only going to allow for a logical transition’ again, but is also going to assist the person to perform better.What is at stake here is not only the leadership of the country, but is also its image abroad and relations with other countries.So, congress delegates will have to decide whether it is logical or not to promote someone from Lands, Higher Education or Foreign Affairs to president, considering the need for ‘appropriate exposure’.Present Party positions should not be a determining factor here, because the occupation of a certain Party position might not be meritorious.It must be remembered that the succession is for the country’s president, not for the Party president.If I had the privilege to vote at the coming congress based on what is known so far about the three presidential candidates Hamutenya scores highest, all things considered.Followed by the ‘teacher’ Angula.He is more a ‘teacher’ than a manager.Perhaps his managerial skills can still be tested by giving him the next premiership.It is unfortunate that I have to disagree with President Nujoma, whose nominee for the presidency does not appear to match the job.CH Mwandingi Windhoek