The SWAPO Party Youth League (SPYL) wants former ministers Sacky Shanghala and Bernhard Esau to resign following damning allegations that they received massive bribes from an Iceland fishing company in exchange for quotas and licences.
Shanghala and Esau resigned on Wednesday after the scandal involving more than N$150m made headlines locally and globally.
The two were implicated in the scandal together with the former Investec Asset Management managing director James Hatuikulipi, his cousin Tamson ‘Fitty’ who is also Esau’s son-in-law and Ricardo Gustavo who was a manager at Investec.
Hatuikulipi resigned from Investec on Thursday, while Gustavo was suspended pending internal investigations.
SWAPO should, the league said, bar all those who have been convicted of corruption-related cases and those due to appear in court from holding public office.
In a statement released on Saturday and signed by the SPYL secretary for information, publicity and mobilization, Gerson Lineekela Dumeni, the league said allegations of corruption involving party members has the potential of tarnishing the image of the party.
The league also said that SWAPO, as an organisation, is bigger than individuals hence their call on the politburo to ask those implicated in corrupt activities to resign or be recalled.
“We should jealously guard the Namibian house by protecting the image of the party and act with integrity in the interest of the party and national interest of Namibia,” the league said.
According to the league, although everyone is innocent until proven guilty, however, the party must take disciplinary measures against those found to have acted corruptly.
The league has listed the following:
- Commission of inquiry into the fishing scandal
- Fishing quota application of 2018 to be withdrawn as there is no faith in the process
- Remove those implicated in corrupt activities from the SWAPO Party parliamentary list
- All convicted members of SWAPO on the list should be removed and must not to hold public office
- The issue of the fishermen to be addressed forthwith
