Swapo seniors bite the dust

SWAPO primaries continue to surprise, with more serving regional councillors being shown the door by the party structures.
The primaries also saw various serving regional councillors throwing in the towel just before the main event.

Controversial Otjozondjupa regional co-ordinator Otto Ipinge had a landslide victory as the Otjiwarongo candidate for the regional councillor’s position after incumbent councillor and Otjozondjupa governor Ferdinand Kavetuna bailed out at the last minute. Ipinge was challenged by the Swapo Women Council’s Suzan Gideon, but won the race. Elizabeth Mwanyangapo, long-serving Swapo activist in the Okalongo area of the Omusati Region, got the community’s backing to secure a landslide victory over incumbent regional council member Jhonny Hakaye. Hakaye has long been accused of being out of touch with the constituency.Swapo’s regional co-ordinator in the Omusati Region, Titus Kanyele, secured himself a position as Swapo candidate in the Onesi constituency after beating incumbent Fillemon Jatileni, who has served one term.Kanyele is expected to sail through with ease as Swapo has no major challenges in that part of the country.Ruacana also has a new Swapo candidate, as serving councillor Lazarus Cornelius threw in the towel even before the primaries started. Former Oshakati town engineer Abasti Ipinge replaces the long-serving councillor as candidate for the November election.Businessman Joseph (Kapya) Endjala replaces former Mines deputy minister and MP Henock ya Kasita at Okaku in the Oshana Region.Simon Shileka Tataati won the nomination with one vote in the Outapi constituency. Former Swakopmund mayor Germina Ndapua Shitaleni is the Swapo candidate for the regional councillor’s position in the Swakopmund constituency.National Council deputy chairperson Margaret Mensah-Williams retains her nomination as the party candidate for Khomasdal North. Former Otavi Village Council chairperson Ndapewa Nambili replaces the regional councillor for Otavi constituency, Bartholomeus Shangheta, who could not stand again after he was convicted of hunting illegally on a commercial farm in the Otavi area.The Hardap Swapo Party Youth League regional secretary, Titus Huisemab, withdrew from the primaries at the eleventh hour.Huisemab was set to battle it out against Aranos Village Council chairman Jan Jarson in Saturday’s primary at Aranos to elect a candidate for the Mariental Rural Constituency.A party insider hinted that a group of party members at Hoachanas and Gochas led by Chief Markus Kooper had met the party’s assigned leader to the region, Joel Kaapanda, on Saturday to express complaints about the nomination process.In an earlier letter to the party’s regional leadership, the group had threatened to boycott the November regional and local authority polls unless their concerns were addressed before the conclusion of the party primaries. According to a source, Kaapanda acknowledged their concerns but said that time constraints made it impossible to resolve them right away. He pledged that these concerns would be addressed after the elections.