EDITORIAL: Time to probe Swartbooi’s leadership

The political marriage between Henny Seibeb and Bernadus Swartbooi was bound to fail. And it’s unfortunate because in them, the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), had a formidable force. Their early days in parliament are testament to that. Together, they were a necessary chaos - especially in our timid, sleepy National Assembly.

The scenes of Swartbooi ripping off his jacket and inviting Swapo parliamentarians to a fist fight, with Seibeb rallying him on in the background, kept the somnolent lawmakers in those chambers awake for a change. Add to this the sight of Seibeb being manhandled by late president Hage Geingob’s bodyguard Johan Ndjaronguru, and you have a tale of two short-fused leaders. Their personalities were always going to clash at some point, and yesterday, they exploded like dynamite.

It was just a matter of time. The battlefield was already set. It just needed weaponry. LPM needed a blend of both temper and measurement. They only had the former – and in abundance. Level-headedness didn’t exist within LPM's top two. Two hotheads led the party, and their fate was written the day they tied the knot. Yesterday it came to a head, and in spectacular fashion.

LPM must now introspect. Swartbooi’s iron-fisted leadership has been the subject of debate for quite a while now. True, he must maintain discipline within the rank and file of the ‘orange movement’, but is it a mere coincidence that those leaving the party have pointed fingers at his poor interpersonal skills and autocratic tendencies?