Swapo justifies deferring extraordinary congress

The Swapo Party will not hold a congress within three months of the death of president Hage Geingob, and instead chose to endorse its current vice-president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, as the candidate for this year’s national elections.

This follows a central committee meeting held over the weekend, where Swapo veteran Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana moved that Nandi-Ndaitwah stand as the party’s candidate. The party is now set to convene an extraordinary congress on 19 April 2025.

Swapo politburo member Sisa Namandje explained the party’s reasoning for not holding an extraordinary congress: “We did not endorse Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. We did not endorse [her] and we did not elect her. What happened there is, before the extraordinary congress of 2004, Swapo did not have the current rules [and] the party decided [that] instead of calling for an extraordinary congress every time to elect a candidate, let’s make it an automatic thing. We said the president of the party is the automatic candidate”.

“No decision is to be made, automatic is what it is. No decision is to be made, no confirmation is required, no endorsement is required, no election is required,” he added.

Unity

Swapo secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa said the party - and not individuals - was the biggest winner following last weekend’s central committee meeting.

“The Swapo Party won because of the unity among the members of the central committee.”

Shaningwa also informed members who convened at the Swapo headquarters that young members were being prepared to take over leadership positions within the party.

“We are preparing ourselves to retire, we are preparing you to take over. We are preparing solid ground for you to land. What we are doing is no longer for us, but for you,” she said.

Swapo veteran Helmut Angula welcomed the outcome of the central committee meeting, calling it progressive.

“That is a progressive development,” he said briefly when called for comment.

Meanwhile, former deputy works minister James Sankwasa said there was a need for the party to hold an elective congress despite Nandi-Ndaitwah being the only candidate.

“There is a need for a congress. Congress must confirm what the central committee has decided. If congress does not do that, the person will remain unconfirmed.”

Difficult situation

According to academic Henning Melber, the party faced a difficult situation while still having to deal with demands for a congress from its members.

“I think the party leadership faced a dilemma difficult - if not impossible - to solve. Having already entered, albeit less formally so, an election campaign for Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, it would be difficult to reopen a debate on what has been considered a fact decided upon,” he said.

Melber added that any internal divisions would harm the image that Swapo is united and has left factional battles behind.

“Having to deal with mavericks or rather grouches of the Jerry Ekandjo and Helmut Angula type is a challenge for any party, not only in Namibia.”

Geingob’s death is another matter that left the party unprepared, Melber said.

“[It] was an unexpected, sad spanner, which caught the party and its constitutional principles unprepared. But this might justify that the party’s highest bodies respond in the best possible pragmatic way. I tend to accept that the decision taken might be the kind of exit option which allows for the best possible handling of the matter,” he said.

What are the chances?

Political analyst Rui Tyitende said he did not expect any candidate other than Nandi-Ndaitwah to emerge.

“My view is that [even] if an extraordinary congress is held, what are the chances someone other than Nandi-Ndaitwah will win?”

He also questioned the party’s tendency to flout its own rules.

“Swapo does not have a history of following its own rules; they tend to follow the law when it suits them,” he said.