By: Hertha Ekandjo
Former cabinet minister Helmut Angula says the nomination of environment minister Pohamba Shifeta and defence minister Frans Kapofi to contest the ruling party’s vice presidency was done at the expense of the Swapo constitution.
Kapofi and Shifeta saw themselves joining the race to be, possibly, the country’s next President, joining pack leaders, prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, this past Saturday at Swapo’s central committee meeting.
“So far, I have not heard of the amendment of those prohibitive clauses, yet the central committee went ahead and did what it did,” said Angula.
The so-called ‘Helmut Amendments’ passed in 2018 at the Swapo congress require those seeking top four positions within the party to have “persistently and consistently” been members of the central committee, politburo for 10 years, and a party member for 20 consecutive years.
The amendments were initiated by Angula to allegedly protect the party from “chance-takers.”
Angula said the Kapofi and Shifeta nominations were strange and thus tearing apart the party’s constitution. “There’s no other way one can interpret it,” he told The Villager.
According to him, the central committee had no power to amend the constitution.
“As I have said on previous occasions, with all the five years at their disposal, they should’ve called an extraordinary congress and broke those amendments if they were not happy with the clauses in there. Which then would be approved by the congress before it goes into session,” he argued.
He added that nothing would be constitutional anymore because congress could not from the floor amend or accept proposals of amendments to the Swapo’s constitution.
Moreover, he mentioned that the new amendment needed to be tabled three months before the congress session and then be debated by the structures.
“Only then can it be discussed in the congress and adopted. Today what has been done is not within the framework of the constitution,” he expressed.
The four candidates are now set to begin their campaigning this Wednesday for the Swapo congress in November.
Quizzed on the matter, Swapo spokesperson Hilma Nicanor said, “I have no knowledge of amendments to be known officially in Swapo as the Helmut amendment, I hear of so-called Helmut amendments, but I am only aware that the Constitution of Swapo party has been amended on several occasions, including the amendments that were made in 2017 Congress,” she said.
She further said that when it comes to the nominations and elections of candidates, the party is guided by its constitution and election rules and procedures as adopted by the party through its congress.
“The same exercise that took place on Saturday – that of endorsing the candidates nominated at the level of the central committee’s political bureau and also having new nominations taking place at the central committee itself. The central committee was guided by the constitution of Swapo and its rules and procedures,” she said.
Shifeta’s Chances
Meanwhile, Shifeta gave thanks to those who nominated him as vice president and entrusted him with the position.
“I am ready to serve the party at any given leadership level,” he said.
However, political analyst Graham Hopwood was surprised by the number of votes for the environment minister, stating that he does not have a remarkable reputation as a minister.
He added that there’s a high chance of Shifeta not becoming a presidential candidate come 2024.
“I was surprised that he got more votes than Kapofi because Kapofi’s name has been in the frame as a possible candidate who might have the favour of the President for some time now. But I suppose that there needs to be a list of presentations in terms of how the public perceived this young minister on the list on the ballot paper even if he has little chance of succeeding,” said Hopwood.
He further stated that Kapofi was safe regarding how he was regarded in the party and someone the President could trust.
According to Hopwood, the “corruption tag” around the candidates’ necks (Kapofi and Shifeta) was the one thing limiting their chances of getting the vice presidency position.
Moreover, he mentioned that a significant factor against Kapofi was when he presided on the board of the SME bank for some time, which was ‘long enough’ for him to be accused of negligence in terms of how the institution collapsed and the money that was stolen.
Woman President Blow?
Political analyst Ndumba Kamanya says that with men now part of the vice presidential candidates, people’s expectations for a female president have been lowered.
“What happened at the politburo nominations was that agenda of making sure that this year, women are there when it comes to the top four of the party. But now that Kapofi and Shifeta are in, it means that the year of women has been thrown in the balance,” he said.
Kamanya added that there was now uncertainty of this ending up the way many people hoped for it to end, with women competing for Swapo in the Presidential elections come 2024.
“That hope and aspiration is in limbo now, and that is what it means,” he said.
