Geingob resigning would damage his image - Shaningwa

Swapo Party secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa on Saturday said party president Hage Geingob would “damage his image as a leader of Swapo” if he were to resign from that position and open doors for an extraordinary congress.

She said those calling for an extraordinary congress - to supposedly seek a possible alternative candidate for the 2024 election besides vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah - would be disappointed because, in fact, none of the party’s top four leaders will resign.

According to the party’s succession policy, when the president is ineligible to stand – as is the case with Geingob, who is in his final term as state president – the vice-president becomes the automatic candidate for national presidential elections.

Nandi-Ndaitwah was re-elected as party vice-president at a congress in 2022, making her the automatic party candidate as per this policy.

However, talks of an extraordinary congress, fuelled in part by remarks made by Geingob himself right after the congress election results were announced, have refused to die down.

While the presidency later poured cold water over the remarks, and while the president himself has on numerous occasions said Nandi-Ndaitwah is the party’s official candidate, another recent comment he made has unsettled the Nandi-Ndaitwah camp.

While addressing the ninth session of the heads of mission conference a fortnight ago, Geingob said: “We have identified some people. The secret will be kept and one day when the time comes, I will be the first one to announce at a big conference or rally the candidate that Swapo has elected”.

Unnatural condition

On Saturday during a party rally in Windhoek, Shaningwa reiterated that, unless an “unnatural condition” occurs, there will be no extraordinary congress, stressing that Nandi-Ndaitwah is the sole Swapo candidate for the 2024 election.

“If the secretary-general resigns, then there will be an extraordinary congress; if the deputy secretary resigns, there will be an extraordinary congress, and if the vice-president resigns, there will be one. If the president of the country resigns, there will be one.”

“[But] let me now disappoint those ones who are calling for an extraordinary congress. The president, Hage Geingob, is not ready and is not prepared to damage his image as a leader of Swapo and a leader of this country. He is not going to resign.”

Shaningwa added that there will also be no resignations from the other top four positions.

“This simply means that there shall be no vacancy and therefore be assured that Nandi-Ndaitwah is our only sole candidate for the Swapo Party come the 2024 national presidential elections.”

Geingob did not attend the rally, as he is currently in Finland where he attended the state funeral of the former president of that country, Martti Ahtisaari.

Difficult process

Addressing the crowd, Nandi-Ndaitwah said democracy is one of Namibia’s stellar qualities, and the country is renowned for its peaceful transfer of power as well as its free and fair elections.

“Governance and democracy are concepts that are mastered over time and the Swapo Party has undoubtedly matured in governing. Our instruments of firm conviction are what enable us to be dealers of Namibia’s aspirations.”

Nandi-Ndaitwah said while much has been achieved since independence, development is a process and it is imperative to note that the nation is embroiled with the daunting task of economic emancipation.

“While political fragmentation continues to hamper our efforts in this endeavour, the task remains.”

She said Namibia has a high rate of unemployment amongst youth, which is a key contributor to the already existing structural inequalities which only worsen day by day.

“We are in a difficult process of recovering from various exogenous shocks as a result of economic downturns and the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with prolonged periods of drought.”