SWAPO Party Youth League secretary Elijah Ngurare has indicated that he has no intention of contesting for a position on the party’s list for the National Assembly this year.
Although Ngurare refused to comment on the matter yesterday, SPYL sources said he recently told some of the SPYL leaders that he has no desire to stand. The move has fuelled speculation about what he intends to do instead.
A source said Ngurare indicated that he was considering a career in academia, which could allow him to spend more time with his family.
Skeptics, however, said the move looks like political maneuvering aimed at the 2017 congress.
It was expected that this is the time for Ngurare to take the next step, which is to contest for a seat in parliament and hopefully a Cabinet post.
Ngurare and his executive decided not to contest for positions on the party list in 2009, claiming that their ambition was not having seats in parliament and government posts but putting youth empowerment and rural development ahead.
The Namibian has received a list of 21 names of people who have been nominated by the SPYL structures, although the league executive will be dealing with a preliminary list of 15, which will have to be scaled down to six, with a 50/50 representation component.
SPYL secretary for information Job Amupanda is also on the list, although he indicated that he is not willing to stand either. Amupanda, yesterday, said his decision to decline any nomination is born out of protest. “I am doing it in protest, since the youth is in the majority and we cannot be fighting for six positions, plus I am not motivated by position,” he said, adding that he is not in the SPYL in the hope for government positions but to work for the young people of the country.
Amupanda forms part of a section in the SPYL executive, which feels that the current youth leadership should do more for the needy youth of the country rather than run for positions. The group intends to keep advocating for those who have no access to government services while they are outside of government structures.
SPYL deputy secretary Veikko Nekundi is on the list and will not stand for nomination since he qualifies automatically as a member of the mother party’s Central Committee.
//Karas governor Bernadus Swartbooi’s name is also on the list but will not go to the ‘pot’ on an SPYL ticket because he is already nominated by the Karas regional executive.
On the list is also former Swapo secretary general Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana’s assistant at the party headquarters Henny Seibeb, whose employment was terminated a few weeks before Iivula-Ithana vacated the office.
SPYL leaders said Seibeb is looking at making a political comeback with a ticket to the National Assembly possibly the catalyst for such a move.
Of late, Seibeb has been writing newspaper articles commenting on the socioeconomic situation in the country. He has also served as personal assistant to former Minister of Environment and Tourism Willem Konjore.
National Youth Council secretary general Mandela Kapere is also on the list but told The Namibian that he is not confirming that he is standing.
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.
Former secretary to the National Tender Board of Namibia, Miriam Onesmus, also features on the list.
The SPYL clashed with then Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Calle Schlettwein over the removal of Onesmus from the tender board to another department in the finance ministry.
An SPYL leader, Alec Boois, who lost a chance to go to parliament in 2009 is also on the list together with other former league executive members, Lucia Ipumbu and Charles Siyauya. Siyauya said that he was in the dark about his nomination and therefore could not comment.
The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry Northern branch’s president Thomas Indjii is also on the list as an SPYL CC member. Indjii, yesterday, told The Namibian that he was not “interested in running for parliament.”
