Swapo tells opposition to suspend campaigns

OPPOSITION parties in the Oshana Region have accused Swapo Party leaders in the region of wanting to prescribe to other political parties what to do and where to campaign.

What was meant to be a consultative meeting of political parties in the Oshana Region turned into a platform for the Governor of Oshana, Clemens Kashuupulwa, who chaired the meeting, to disapprove of the campaign strategies of parties such as the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).
He went as far as saying that RDP should stop its campaign and wait for the official launch of the election campaign period.
Kashuupulwa and other Swapo leaders present at the meeting, which was also attended by representatives of RDP, Congress of Democrats and DTA, particularly took issue with the door-to-door campaign conducted by RDP.
The Police were also not spared. They were accused of allegedly ‘collaborating’ with the RDP by allowing it to campaign in the villages.
Kashuupulwa told the representatives of the four parties that the purpose of the meeting was to review the issue of door-to-door election campaigning.
However the opposition party leaders challenged Kashuupulwa.
They said it was not acceptable and that Swapo, which he represented at the meeting, cannot prescribe to them when and where to campaign.
‘You Swapo leaders in Oshana are in a panic and seem very afraid to have a fair and healthy political campaign with the RDP party … and that is why you want to come up with all these meetings and appeal,’ said one of the RDP representatives.
RDP Central Committee member Kornelius Mbangula told Kashuupulwa that door-to-door campaigning is not against the law.
Mbangula said people are joining the RDP of their own free will and some people are requesting the party to visit their villages.
Kashuupulwa claimed that there had been complaints from the public that the RDP had already started campaigning for the November elections two weeks ago.
He said he was concerned whether the Police could control the situation if all 12 political parties followed suit.
‘How are we going to handle the political situation in our region taking into account the existing political situation that is already out of hand because of political attacks and intolerance that some of the political parties are advocating in the media,’ Kashuupulwa said.
He appealed to political parties to refrain from door-to-door campaigning pending the official launch of the election campaign.
The Governor also advised parties to approach village headmen before campaigning in a village.
Some constituency councillors, especially Okatyali Councillor Joseph Mupetami, are on record saying that RDP field workers are not welcome in their constituencies.
The RDP has said that it is campaigning in Okatyali Constituency with the knowledge of the Police and the headman of Okatyali. RDP’s Mbangula said the RDP would continue with its campaigning and would not break the laws of the country.
‘We are not here to kneel and bow in front of Swapo, we are politically mature enough and we have do things ourselves and in our own ways, and do not need advice from Swapo on how we should do our political campaigning,’ said the CoD’s Josua Nghishiiko.
The meeting ended without any agreement, and Kashuupulwa told the participants that he would call another meeting to discuss matters further.
Responding to the allegations of cllaboration, the Oshana Police commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, explained to the meeting that a RDP letter sent to his office did not ask for approval to campaign in the villages but just notified his office of their intentions.
He said he didn’t forward the letter to the Governor’s office for distribution.
‘My office passed a copy of it to the Governor Office, with a note attached to it that it was only for the Governor’s attention,’ Commissioner Kashihakumwa told the meeting.
‘I don’t know what happened, because I was contacted by Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga, asking me about this letter. This letter was not sent [to him] from my office, and whoever sent out this letter might have a hidden agenda,’ said an angry Kashihakumwa.
Kashuupulwa told the meeting that the Regional Councillors representing Government in Oshana had the right to see this letter and to ‘deal with it’, because they had received reports that it might be in the hands of the notorious criminals who might use it to go to people’s houses in the villages to commit crimes.

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