Swapo members ordered to toe line – or face the music

A SWAPO official has vowed to stamp out dissent within the party and bring to book “elements” who he claims want to promote division through internal feuding.

The ruling party’s Regional Co-ordinator for Omaheke, Festus Ueitele, made the statement on Saturday, when he opened the party’s Gobabis district conference, which elected new leaders. GARAGE MEETING The conference took place under a cloud of controversy.It was hotly disputed by a section of the party because of the way in which delegates were elected or nominated.Some were allegedly not Swapo card-carrying members at the time they were “handpicked” at a hush-hush meeting held in a garage.Over the past few weeks, Swapo members at Gobabis, Okahandja and Otjiwarongo have levelled accusations of backstabbing and illegal procedures as branch officials were replaced without the knowledge or involvement of the incumbents.The party is ostensibly revamping its district structures ahead of its congress next year, and insiders say elements within the party are using the process to ensure that their grouping will be most powerfully placed.According to Ueitele, branch co-ordinators had never reported any irregularities about the selection process at Gobabis to him.Thus, he charged on Saturday, reports of unhappiness were “fabricated” by “certain elements and reactionaries” within the party.He claimed that allegations of division and unhappiness about the “revitalisation process” were aimed at tarnishing the image of the party.”They want to sabotage Swapo and instigate the nation at large.Swapo will call the culprits to book,” said Ueitele, who heads Swapo operations in the Omaheke Region.He was supported by Omaheke Governor Laura McLeod.’YOU MUST COMPLY’ McLeod said the party allowed free discussions and members were expected to comply with decisions.”The moment a decision is made, all the other members must join in.Subsequently, there is no need for negative campaigning,” she said following elections at the district conference.She called on members to stop pointing fingers at each other.”Let bygones be bygones.What we need is to find a way forward.Let us, here in this conference, bury our differences and march forward because the future of this beautiful country is in our hands,” McLeod said.But she was addressing a select few.Those who complained about the tactics used to nominate people to the conference were excluded and thus absent from the conference.One unhappy Swapo member said the conference just rubber-stamped a decision taken earlier in the week to re-elect incumbent district co-ordinator and Gobabis Mayor Platini Katjaoha.Katjaoha refused to talk to The Namibian about events leading up to the conference.He told conference delegates that the party would not “waver or compromise, even though some individuals have done so”.He did not elaborate on his statement.Together with Katjaoha, Job Muniaro was elected as district mobiliser and Liberius Kalili as treasurer.The excluded Swapo members claimed that both Ueitele and McLeod had sided with the three new leaders.McLeod admitted that Muniaro would face “a heavy task”.She said there was a lack of faith in the democratic process within Swapo and a lack of instruments to contain what she termed the “creeping tribalism and infighting”.McLeod said the party also lacked a mechanism to deal with indiscipline at district level.The Swapo Regional Co-ordinator for Omaheke, Festus Ueitele, claimed the conference was transparent.Unhappy party members claim that a meeting to identify those who would attend the district conference was conducted in the garage of Epukiro Regional Councillor Brave Tjizera.No one has yet denied that the garage meeting took place.In addition, those sidelined claim that people who did not meet the party criterion of five-year membership to qualify for a leadership position were named as section and branch leaders.At Saturday’s conference, leaders of the regional executive who conducted the election were presented with the membership cards of some of the individuals, but it nonetheless remained unclear when the cards were issued.The dissatisfied members said they were still waiting for Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange to reply to their complaints.However, judging by Saturday’s events, it appeared a foregone conclusion that those elected at the conference would be accepted at the head office.GARAGE MEETING The conference took place under a cloud of controversy.It was hotly disputed by a section of the party because of the way in which delegates were elected or nominated.Some were allegedly not Swapo card-carrying members at the time they were “handpicked” at a hush-hush meeting held in a garage.Over the past few weeks, Swapo members at Gobabis, Okahandja and Otjiwarongo have levelled accusations of backstabbing and illegal procedures as branch officials were replaced without the knowledge or involvement of the incumbents. The party is ostensibly revamping its district structures ahead of its congress next year, and insiders say elements within the party are using the process to ensure that their grouping will be most powerfully placed.According to Ueitele, branch co-ordinators had never reported any irregularities about the selection process at Gobabis to him.Thus, he charged on Saturday, reports of unhappiness were “fabricated” by “certain elements and reactionaries” within the party.He claimed that allegations of division and unhappiness about the “revitalisation process” were aimed at tarnishing the image of the party.”They want to sabotage Swapo and instigate the nation at large.Swapo will call the culprits to book,” said Ueitele, who heads Swapo operations in the Omaheke Region.He was supported by Omaheke Governor Laura McLeod.’YOU MUST COMPLY’ McLeod said the party allowed free discussions and members were expected to comply with decisions.”The moment a decision is made, all the other members must join in.Subsequently, there is no need for negative campaigning,” she said following elections at the district conference.She called on members to stop pointing fingers at each other.”Let bygones be bygones.What we need is to find a way forward.Let us, here in this conference, bury our differences and march forward because the future of this beautiful country is in our hands,” McLeod said.But she was addressing a select few.Those who complained about the tactics used to nominate people to the conference were excluded and thus absent from the conference.One unhappy Swapo member said the conference just rubber-stamped a decision taken earlier in the week to re-elect incumbent district co-ordinator and Gobabis Mayor Platini Katjaoha.Katjaoha refused to talk to The Namibian about events leading up to the conference.He told conference delegates that the party would not “waver or compromise, even though some individuals have done so”.He did not elaborate on his statement.Together with Katjaoha, Job Muniaro was elected as district mobiliser and Liberius Kalili as treasurer.The excluded Swapo members claimed that both Ueitele and McLeod had sided with the three new leaders.McLeod admitted that Muniaro would face “a heavy task”.She said there was a lack of faith in the democratic process within Swapo and a lack of instruments to contain what she termed the “creeping tribalism and infighting”.McLeod said the party also lacked a mechanism to deal with indiscipline at district level.The Swapo Regional Co-ordinator for Omaheke, Festus Ueitele, claimed the conference was transparent.Unhappy party members claim that a meeting to identify those who would attend the district conference was conducted in the garage of Epukiro Regional Councillor Brave Tjizera.No one has yet denied that the garage meeting took place.In addition, those sidelined claim that people who did not meet the party criterion of five-year membership to qualify for a leadership position were named as section and branch leaders.At Saturday’s conference, leaders of the regional executive who conducted the election were presented with the membership cards of some of the individuals, but it nonetheless remained unclear when th
e cards were issued.The dissatisfied members said they were still waiting for Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange to reply to their complaints.However, judging by Saturday’s events, it appeared a foregone conclusion that those elected at the conference would be accepted at the head office.