THE ruling Swapo Party holds what is set to be a watershed congress this week, with former Head of State Sam Nujoma, who has been the party’s only president since its inception in 1960, expected to bow out to clear the way for a new leadership.
The regular congress is held every five years. This week, delegates will reflect on the 45 resolutions taken at the previous congress held in August 2002.The ruling party’s decisions concerning national issues are usually translated into Government actions.As Swapo General Secretary Ngarikutuke Tjiriange told the media in 2002, “The resolutions taken at a Swapo congress affect the whole nation.”The rollout of anti-retroviral treatment to AIDS patients, in terms of resolution 10, has been achieved, but a resolution that courts should impose stiffer sentences for murder, rape, armed robbery and other serious crimes was not realised.LAND REFORM Resolutions 14 and 15, dealing with land reform, were not carried out – such as allocating N$100 million a year to the Lands Ministry to buy farms for resettlement.More realistically, Government budgets N$50 million annually for that purpose, but during the 2005-06 financial year, the Ministry only spent approximately N$20 million to buy farms.In 2002, the delegates further resolved that 192 farms belonging “to foreign absentee landlords” with accumulative size of 1,26 million hectares “should be expropriated within the framework of the law”.To date, only about six farms have been expropriated and a proper list of the alleged 192 foreign and absent landlords was never produced.WATER TARIFFS On the topic of access to water, the 2002 congress resolved that Government should set national water tariffs, but this has not yet been done.Water is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the majority of Namibians, who have accumulated high debts with NamWater, the Agriculture Ministry and municipalities.Only 10 days ago, the Agriculture Ministry suddenly instructed NamWater and the Ministry’s own Department of Rural Water Supply to reconnect the water supply communities in regions and towns.In the same press statement of November 15, Minister Nickey Iyambo announced that consultants would be appointed to “review and propose water tariffs of NamWater, the Department of Rural Water Supply and of municipalities to determine the best way forward”.This sudden announcement appears to be a last-minute attempt to carry out Swapo congress resolution 27 just days before the congress.EDUCATION AND HOME AFFAIRS On education, Swapo in 2002 resolved that hardworking and talented Grade Seven children should be identified in all 13 regions to monitor their performance and find money to allow them to study at “the best tertiary institutions in Namibia and other countries” and give them bursaries to meet Namibia’s need for scientists and academics.As far as could be established, this intention has not materialised.Swapo abstained from the radical resolution 18, regarding the Judicial Service Commission as too narrow and to amend the Constitution broadening the Commission “to include other stakeholders to reflect the interests of the people”.The same resolution recommended that the Government constitutional committee should “undertake a study to determine the implication of separating the Executive (Cabinet) from Legislature (Parliament) and the unicameral Parliamentary system.”Critics have always said that Parliament was dominated by Cabinet Ministers (the Executive), but that it was tricky to change the system.It is not known if that study has been carried out.A proposal of the 2002 Congress to amend the Public Service Act so that irregularities occurring in the Home Affairs Ministry be curbed and fast disciplinary measures against officials be carried out, has also not materialised yet, nor has the idea of declaring that ministry a “sensitive ministry”.INFRASTRUCTURE Improved access to housing for Namibians has hardly been done, but at least several road construction projects and upgrading of the road network have been undertaken.Another positive is the extension of maternity leave to female employees to three months and increase maternity leave payouts.Incentives for credit to small and medium enterprises have been implemented, but access to financial services for this sector as resolved five years ago by Swapo delegates, hardly materialised, neither the public sector procurement from previously disadvantaged Namibian companies.Another resolution (No 37), training Namibians in “management disciplines to curb the outflow of capital from Namibia and manage capital resources locally”, has also not been realised.Nor has the availability of funds from Government “to kick-start manufacturing and value-adding enterprises”.Plans of nearly 10 years ago to establish a national pension and medical aid scheme were again a topic in 2002 and was put as resolution, but this has not been implemented.INTERNAL SWAPO RESOLUTIONS In 2002, delegates decided that at the 2007 congress the gender balance must reach the 50-50 target, meaning half of the roughly 580 delegates should be women.This week will show if that target has been met.Congress resolved then that outgoing Head of State Nujoma should set up a foundation named after him to provide study bursaries to the youth.Although the foundation was launched at a lavish ceremony in 2005, little has been heard of it since then.It was decided then that the party should have a full-time Secretary General and full-time Deputy Secretary General.This goal was not achieved, unless one regards the appointment of Swapo Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange as Minister without Portfolio in March 2005 as “full-time”, albeit with a State salary compliments of the Namibian taxpayer.Only last year Tjiriange was made Veterans’ Affairs Minister and he has to juggle both roles.Swapo resolved that the party should establish an Institute of Political Studies (IPS) as a “centre for capacity building for party members, political mobilisers and functionaries”.The 2002 congress further decided the IPS should be established before the next congress.This has not yet happened, but the resolution to set up a Swapo history project was indeed carried out with the official launch of the Swapo Party archives last week.This week, delegates will reflect on the 45 resolutions taken at the previous congress held in August 2002.The ruling party’s decisions concerning national issues are usually translated into Government actions.As Swapo General Secretary Ngarikutuke Tjiriange told the media in 2002, “The resolutions taken at a Swapo congress affect the whole nation.”The rollout of anti-retroviral treatment to AIDS patients, in terms of resolution 10, has been achieved, but a resolution that courts should impose stiffer sentences for murder, rape, armed robbery and other serious crimes was not realised.LAND REFORM Resolutions 14 and 15, dealing with land reform, were not carried out – such as allocating N$100 million a year to the Lands Ministry to buy farms for resettlement.More realistically, Government budgets N$50 million annually for that purpose, but during the 2005-06 financial year, the Ministry only spent approximately N$20 million to buy farms.In 2002, the delegates further resolved that 192 farms belonging “to foreign absentee landlords” with accumulative size of 1,26 million hectares “should be expropriated within the framework of the law”.To date, only about six farms have been expropriated and a proper list of the alleged 192 foreign and absent landlords was never produced. WATER TARIFFS On the topic of access to water, the 2002 congress resolved that Government should set national water tariffs, but this has not yet been done.Water is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the majority of Namibians, who have accumulated high debts with NamWater, the Agriculture Ministry and municipalities.Only 10 days ago, the Agriculture Ministry suddenly instructed NamWater and the Ministry’s own Department of Rural Water Supply to reconnect the water supply communities in regions and towns.In the same press statement of November 15, Minister Nickey Iyambo announced that consultants would be appointed to “review and propose water tariffs of NamWater, the Department of Rural Water Supply and of municipalities to determine the best way forward”.This sudden announcement appears to be a last-minute attempt to carry out Swapo congress resolution 27 just days before the congress. EDUCATION AND HOME AFFAIRS On education, Swapo in 2002 resolved that hardworking and talented Grade Seven children should be identified in all 13 regions to monitor their performance and find money to allow them to study at “the best tertiary institutions in Namibia and other countries” and give them bursaries to meet Namibia’s need for scientists and academics.As far as could be established, this intention has not materialised.Swapo abstained from the radical resolution 18, regarding the Judicial Service Commission as too narrow and to amend the Constitution broadening the Commission “to include other stakeholders to reflect the interests of the people”.The same resolution recommended that the Government constitutional committee should “undertake a study to determine the implication of separating the Executive (Cabinet) from Legislature (Parliament) and the unicameral Parliamentary system.”Critics have always said that Parliament was dominated by Cabinet Ministers (the Executive), but that it was tricky to change the system.It is not known if that study has been carried out.A proposal of the 2002 Congress to amend the Public Service Act so that irregularities occurring in the Home Affairs Ministry be curbed and fast disciplinary measures against officials be carried out, has also not materialised yet, nor has the idea of declaring that ministry a “sensitive ministry”.INFRASTRUCTURE Improved access to housing for Namibians has hardly been done, but at least several road construction projects and upgrading of the road network have been undertaken.Another positive is the extension of maternity leave to female employees to three months and increase maternity leave payouts.Incentives for credit to small and medium enterprises have been implemented, but access to financial services for this sector as resolved five years ago by Swapo delegates, hardly materialised, neither the public sector procurement from previously disadvantaged Namibian companies.Another resolution (No 37), training Namibians in “management disciplines to curb the outflow of capital from Namibia and manage capital resources locally”, has also not been realised.Nor has the availability of funds from Government “to kick-start manufacturing and value-adding enterprises”.Plans of nearly 10 years ago to establish a national pension and medical aid scheme were again a topic in 2002 and was put as resolution, but this has not been implemented. INTERNAL SWAPO RESOLUTIONS In 2002, delegates decided that at the 2007 congress the gender balance must reach the 50-50 target, meaning half of the roughly 580 delegates should be women.This week will show if that target has been met.Congress resolved then that outgoing Head of State Nujoma should set up a foundation named after him to provide study bursaries to the youth.Although the foundation was launched at a lavish ceremony in 2005, little has been heard of it since then.It was decided then that the party should have a full-time Secretary General and full-time Deputy Secretary General.This goal was not achieved, unless one regards the appointment of Swapo Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange as Minister without Portfolio in March 2005 as “full-time”, albeit with a State salary compliments of the Namibian taxpayer. Only last year Tjiriange was made Veterans’ Affairs Minister and he has to juggle both roles.Swapo resolved that the party should establish an Institute of Political Studies (IPS) as a “centre for capacity building for party members, political mobilisers and functionaries”.The 2002 congress further decided the IPS should be established before the next congress.This has not yet happened, but the resolution to set up a Swapo history project was indeed carried out with the official launch of the Swapo Party archives last week.
