Primary polls at Omaheke a mistake: Swapo

THE ruling Swapo Party’s aborted primary elections in the Omaheke Region were “a mistake”, the party’s top administration has conceded.

Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange suggested on Monday that the primaries were halted so that they could be held concurrently with those in other regions. But sources in the East maintain that the intensity of internal feuding that saw rival party supporters at Gobabis come to blows recently was the main cause of the cancellation.”It was in the first place a mistake for one region to hold the primary elections, while others have not yet started,” Tjiriange told The Namibian, adding that the party’s secretariat and politburo would soon meet to set a new date for the simultaneous polls.The primary elections are expected to place unity among the party’s rank and file under severe strain after last month’s fiasco in the Omaheke Region where the party was forced to suspend the election exercise after voting had been completed in some constituencies.Tjiriange tried to play down the seriousness of the Omaheke debacle.He stressed that the Swapo head office had not become involved because the matter was easily handled at regional level.”We have leaders on the ground and, if they feel that a problem is not that serious to warrant intervention from the head office, then they address it there,” he added.”I will not go there and hunt for problems that have not been reported to me … it would be demoralising to leaders there”.Contrary to the Secretary General’s assertion, The Namibian has learnt from reliable sources that Swapo’s head office did intervene in the turmoil at Omaheke.According to well-placed sources, a five-member team of parliamentarians – Tjiriange, Trade and Industry Minister Jesaya Nyamu, Deputy Minister of Education Clara Bohitile, Deputy Foreign Minister Kaire Mbuende and MP Teopoline Ndjoze – were sent to Gobabis two weeks ago to soothe tensions between party members.One source noted: “The regional leadership was given a tongue-lashing and they [regional leaders] were reminded that their personal problems should not tarnish the party’s name”.The abandoned primaries in Omaheke were expected to produce a tough fight at Gobabis where Regional Governor Laura McLeod and Ambrosius Kandjii, National Co-ordinator of the Namibia Amateur Boxing Federation, were slated to slug it out.Gobabis is one of Swapo’s “hot spots” and the two competitors were said to have tried to outwit each other with intense covert campaigns and lobbying.In January a serious standoff emerged between supporters of the two aspirants when they both embarked on ‘house-to-house’ canvassing in the Gobabis single quarters – Swapo’s main stronghold in the town.But the trips reportedly turned ugly and nearly ended in a punch-up when rival supporters resorted to name-calling.But sources in the East maintain that the intensity of internal feuding that saw rival party supporters at Gobabis come to blows recently was the main cause of the cancellation. “It was in the first place a mistake for one region to hold the primary elections, while others have not yet started,” Tjiriange told The Namibian, adding that the party’s secretariat and politburo would soon meet to set a new date for the simultaneous polls. The primary elections are expected to place unity among the party’s rank and file under severe strain after last month’s fiasco in the Omaheke Region where the party was forced to suspend the election exercise after voting had been completed in some constituencies. Tjiriange tried to play down the seriousness of the Omaheke debacle. He stressed that the Swapo head office had not become involved because the matter was easily handled at regional level. “We have leaders on the ground and, if they feel that a problem is not that serious to warrant intervention from the head office, then they address it there,” he added. “I will not go there and hunt for problems that have not been reported to me … it would be demoralising to leaders there”. Contrary to the Secretary General’s assertion, The Namibian has learnt from reliable sources that Swapo’s head office did intervene in the turmoil at Omaheke. According to well-placed sources, a five-member team of parliamentarians – Tjiriange, Trade and Industry Minister Jesaya Nyamu, Deputy Minister of Education Clara Bohitile, Deputy Foreign Minister Kaire Mbuende and MP Teopoline Ndjoze – were sent to Gobabis two weeks ago to soothe tensions between party members. One source noted: “The regional leadership was given a tongue-lashing and they [regional leaders] were reminded that their personal problems should not tarnish the party’s name”. The abandoned primaries in Omaheke were expected to produce a tough fight at Gobabis where Regional Governor Laura McLeod and Ambrosius Kandjii, National Co-ordinator of the Namibia Amateur Boxing Federation, were slated to slug it out. Gobabis is one of Swapo’s “hot spots” and the two competitors were said to have tried to outwit each other with intense covert campaigns and lobbying. In January a serious standoff emerged between supporters of the two aspirants when they both embarked on ‘house-to-house’ canvassing in the Gobabis single quarters – Swapo’s main stronghold in the town. But the trips reportedly turned ugly and nearly ended in a punch-up when rival supporters resorted to name-calling.