Shaningwa says Swapo is too broke to hold extraordinary congress

SWAPO secretary general Sophia Shaningwa says the party cannot fund and financially sustain an extraordinary congress. 

She said this in a responding affidavit submitted to the High Court. 

Swapo filed an affidavit to defend  its decision not to hold an extraordinary congress to elect a party president. 

The party has not had a president since February, following the death of Hage Geingob. 

“The party has given thousands of dollars during the regional engagement during 2023,” she said. 

She said this would not only be the case during the months following Hage Geingob’s death but throughout 2024 and part of 2025.

Shaningwa added that some funds were spent on the construction of the Swapo headquarters. 

“The party needs funds for its ongoing election campaign and the holding of the electoral college,” she said.  

This follows a legal challenge by party members Reinhold Shipwikineni, Peter Shituula, Joshua-Vaino Martins, and others, who asked Swapo to hold an extraordinary congress. 

Shaningwa said it remains impossible to hold the extraordinary congress. 

The party will convene its extraordinary congress in April 2025.

In March, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was endorsed as Swapo’s presidential candidate, in the absence of a congress, by the central committee. 

Some party members claimed it was a constitutional violation and called for an extraordinary gathering from a faction within the party.