Swapo’s Amathila quits

ONE of the Swapo Party’s most senior members, and one of its most popular figures, is retiring from Parliament today.

Former Information Minister Ben Amathila, highly respected in political circles for his integrity, is calling it quits two days before Swapo’s 47th anniversary. He will present his farewell speech in the House today.Amathila, a veteran from the liberation struggle era, became Swapo Chief Whip in the National Assembly seven years ago.He has dedicated his life to the liberation struggle.Now, he says, he plans to farm in the Erongo Region.Amathila’s sudden departure from the political stage will undoubtedly be received with shock in many quarters, coming as it does at a time which sees the Swapo Party grappling with deep internal divisions.However, Amathila yesterday said that what many would see as an abrupt decision was something that had “come a long way”.’GENTLEMAN POLITICIAN’ The ‘Grand Signeur’ or ‘gentleman politician’, as he is called by opposition party members because of his diplomatic skills and for having the rare gift of listening to and considering the views of other people, did not want to say too much yesterday.”It will all be in my speech on Tuesday,” Amathila told The Namibian yesterday, when asked why he did not wait until 2010, when a new Parliament and a new Cabinet will be sworn in and Namibia will celebrate two decades of Independence.Amathila confirmed that he had told the Swapo parliamentary caucus about his decision on Thursday.”My last day in Parliament will be April 17,” he told The Namibian.Although the 68-year-old Amathila is still a member of the Swapo politburo and its central committee, he might not want to stand for elections at the next Swapo congress scheduled for later this year.Amathila denied that his decision had anything to do with speculation in some quarters that he was quitting because of a difference of opinion that occurred between Information Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and junior minister Kazenambo Kazenambo.The two MPs expressed different views during a recent debate on a lack of respect for elders and the decline of the nation’s morality.Kazenambo criticised his own party, claiming that some members were practising tribalism and ethnicity.Nandi-Ndaitwah rebuked Kazenambo for using the parliamentary arena to take issue on party affairs.A State-owned newspaper claimed that Amathila tried to mediate between the two officials afterwards.Amathila’s tendency has always been to try and help seek solutions on testing matters.In 2005, Amathila, former Robben Island prisoner Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Mzee Kaukungwa of the Swapo Elders’ Council, and Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila were mandated by some Swapo members to approach party president Sam Nujoma about a delicate issue.They asked him to consider relinquishing the presidency of Swapo to give free reign to State President Hifikepunye Pohamba.Nujoma abruptly refused.Amathila will retire near Omaruru.”I want to be in the bush where I will be able to do things I could not have done so far – think, research and write,” the Swapo Chief Whip told The Namibian.”I intend to write my political autobiography.”Amathila appears to be following in the footsteps of former Labour Minister Ya Toivo, former Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi and Phillemon Malima, who first held the Defence and then the Tourism portfolio.”They all retired in 2004, opting for retirement in a dignified way to allow younger Swapo cadres a chance to bring about generation shift in the ruling party,” a Swapo member, who did not want to be named, commented to The Namibian yesterday.”Toivo, who was over 80 years old then, started with this commendable step, echoed by Witbooi.This is a good thing,” the person added.’DEDICATED POLITICIAN’ Nora-Schimming-Chase, the Chief Whip of the main opposition party, the Congress of Democrats, said Parliament would be losing a very dedicated and experienced politician.”He did not have an easy job running a large caucus of over 50 members and many of them being Cabinet Ministers,” Schimming-Chase said, when approached for comment.”Myself and the other party whips worked very well with him, and I also had great respect for his work in the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, of which he was chairman and where I serve,” she said.”Ben Amathila is always very calm, friendly and conducive for good co-operation.”Amathila’s successor as Chief Whip might be Swapo Deputy Chief Whip Hans Booys.THE EARLY YEARS Ben Amathila became Trade and Industry Minister at Independence in 1990, a post he held for three years.He was suddenly shifted to the less senior portfolio of Information and Broadcasting in 1993.After the 1999 national elections former President Sam Nujoma did not re-appoint Amathila as a Cabinet Minister and the veteran politician was an ordinary Member of Parliament for some months until he was made Chief Whip.Amathila was born at Walvis Bay in October 1938.In 1959, he became politically active in the Ovamboland People’s Organisation, the forerunner of Swapo, which was founded on April 19 1960.He then became a political mobiliser before going into exile in 1966.He served as Swapo representative in Sweden between 1971 and 1976, after which he became the party’s secretary for economics until 1989.After his return to Namibia the same year, Amathila headed Swapo’s regional election directorate at Swakopmund.He then became a Member of the Constituent Assembly.He will present his farewell speech in the House today.Amathila, a veteran from the liberation struggle era, became Swapo Chief Whip in the National Assembly seven years ago.He has dedicated his life to the liberation struggle.Now, he says, he plans to farm in the Erongo Region.Amathila’s sudden departure from the political stage will undoubtedly be received with shock in many quarters, coming as it does at a time which sees the Swapo Party grappling with deep internal divisions.However, Amathila yesterday said that what many would see as an abrupt decision was something that had “come a long way”.’GENTLEMAN POLITICIAN’ The ‘Grand Signeur’ or ‘gentleman politician’, as he is called by opposition party members because of his diplomatic skills and for having the rare gift of listening to and considering the views of other people, did not want to say too much yesterday.”It will all be in my speech on Tuesday,” Amathila told The Namibian yesterday, when asked why he did not wait until 2010, when a new Parliament and a new Cabinet will be sworn in and Namibia will celebrate two decades of Independence.Amathila confirmed that he had told the Swapo parliamentary caucus about his decision on Thursday.”My last day in Parliament will be April 17,” he told The Namibian.Although the 68-year-old Amathila is still a member of the Swapo politburo and its central committee, he might not want to stand for elections at the next Swapo congress scheduled for later this year. Amathila denied that his decision had anything to do with speculation in some quarters that he was quitting because of a difference of opinion that occurred between Information Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and junior minister Kazenambo Kazenambo.The two MPs expressed different views during a recent debate on a lack of respect for elders and the decline of the nation’s morality.Kazenambo criticised his own party, claiming that some members were practising tribalism and ethnicity.Nandi-Ndaitwah rebuked Kazenambo for using the parliamentary arena to take issue on party affairs.A State-owned newspaper claimed that Amathila tried to mediate between the two officials afterwards.Amathila’s tendency has always been to try and help seek solutions on testing matters.In 2005, Amathila, former Robben Island prisoner Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, Mzee Kaukungwa of the Swapo Elders’ Council, and Deputy Prime Minister Libertina Amathila were mandated by some Swapo members to approach party president Sam Nujoma about a delicate issue.They asked him to consider relinquishing the presidency of Swapo to give free reign to State President Hifikepunye Pohamba.Nujoma abruptly refused.Amathila will retire near Omaruru.”I want to be in the bush where I will be able to do things I could not have done so far – think, research and write,” the Swapo Chief Whip told The Namibian.”I intend to write my political autobiography.”Amathila appears to be following in the footsteps of former Labour Minister Ya Toivo, former Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi and Phillemon Malima, who first held the Defence and then the Tourism portfolio.”They all retired in 2004, opting for retirement in a dignified way to allow younger Swapo cadres a chance to bring about generation shift in the ruling party,” a Swapo member, who did not want to be named, commented to The Namibian yesterday.”Toivo, who was over 80 years old then, started with this commendable step, echoed by Witbooi.This is a good thing,” the person added. ‘DEDICATED POLITICIAN’ Nora-Schimming-Chase, the Chief Whip of the main opposition party, the Congress of Democrats, said Parliament would be losing a very dedicated and experienced politician.”He did not have an easy job running a large caucus of over 50 members and many of them being Cabinet Ministers,” Schimming-Chase said, when approached for comment.”Myself and the other party whips worked very well with him, and I also had great respect for his work in the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, of which he was chairman and where I serve,” she said.”Ben Amathila is always very calm, friendly and conducive for good co-operation.”Amathila’s successor as Chief Whip might be Swapo Deputy Chief Whip Hans Booys.THE EARLY YEARS Ben Amathila became Trade and Industry Minister at Independence in 1990, a post he held for three years.He was suddenly shifted to the less senior portfolio of Information and Broadcasting in 1993.After the 1999 national elections former President Sam Nujoma did not re-appoint Amathila as a Cabinet Minister and the veteran politician was an ordinary Member of Parliament for some months until he was made Chief Whip.Amathila was born at Walvis Bay in October 1938.In 1959, he became politically active in the Ovamboland People’s Organisation, the forerunner of Swapo, which was founded on April 19 1960.He then became a political mobiliser before going into exile in 1966.He served as Swapo representative in Sweden between 1971 and 1976, after which he became the party’s secretary for economics until 1989.After his return to Namibia the same year, Amathila headed Swapo’s regional election directorate at Swakopmund.He then became a Member of the Constituent Assembly.