Stay united, urges Iivula-Ithana

THE ruling party says it will talk to Works Minister Helmut Angula and Swapo regional co-ordinator Armas Amukwiyu and urge them to desist from behaviour that will cause division within Swapo.

The decision was one of those taken at last Monday’s Politburo meeting and which was announced at a subsequent press conference by Secretary General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana.A month ago the Politburo appointed veteran former minister Ben Amathila to investigate allegations by Amukwiyu that Angula allegedly called some people tribalists while touring certain areas in the North to explain the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).Angula was also alleged to have said that a third force was behind the Swapo Party Youth League.The Minister denied the claims about tribalism and produced an opinion piece in a Politburo meeting which Amukwiyu wrote during the MCA debacle and which he said was unacceptable.Ithana said Politburo reminded party members to remain united.’The concerned parties will be talked to to desist from whatsoever they are busy with. Party members must respect each other. Unity of the party is supreme and whether we are disciplining somebody is not an issue,’ she said.Ithana was not willing to reveal the exact findings of the Amathila investigation, saying it was ‘an internal issue’.Earlier The Namibian reported that Amukwiyu also told party leaders that Angula allegedly told the gathering that the Swapo Think Tank was just a tribal platform initiated by Ithana to attack President Hifikepunye Pohamba and others.Amukwiyu wrote an opinion piece last year in which he endorsed Swapo Vice President Hage Geingob and called on others to support his candidacy as the move in some quarters to oust Pohamba intensified.The Namibian reported in November that some sections of the party had actively started campaigning to block Pohamba as the party’s presidential candidate for the November elections. Swapo rejected the report and pledged their support to the President.christof@namibian.com.na