Kamwi praises ‘mistreated’ Ngurare’s loyalty to Swapo

Swapo veteran and former health minister Dr Richard Kamwi has commended the endurance and loyalty of party member Dr Elijah Ngurare, who is now destined for parliament after years of humiliation by fellow comrades - including expulsion from the party in 2015 - which had to be reversed by a court.

Former Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary Ngurare is among party vice-president and presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s 10 parliamentary nominees. The nomination could mark a radical turnaround in Ngurare’s political fortunes, with his stocks having declined over the years amid raging factional battles within Swapo.

Since leaving SPYL acrimoniously as a result of the unprecedented expulsion in 2015, Ngurare has transitioned into a professional career that first took him to the University of Namibia (Unam) as a quality assurance coordinator before joining the agriculture ministry in 2020 as director for rural water supply. In early 2023, he was promoted to deputy executive director for water affairs, a position he still holds.

With a bachelor of science degree in water resource management and international relations from the Central State University in the United States, a master of law degree from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and a PhD from the National University of Ireland, Ngurare is deemed underutilised and speculation is rife that he might be thrust into a senior position in government if Nandi-Ndaitwah becomes president.

Maturity and humility

Speaking to Namibian Sun this week, Kamwi praised Ngurare for sticking with Swapo when others who suffered the same humiliation as him opted to pursue their political careers elsewhere.

In 2015, Ngurare was expelled alongside Affirmative Repositioning activists Job Amupanda, Dimbulukeni Nauyoma and George Kambala. The four men successfully challenged their expulsion in court, leading to their reinstatement. Amupanda, Kambala and Nauyoma have since left Swapo.

Kamwi said Ngurare’s political maturity and humility were key in the recent resurgence of his political fortunes – from an outcast to a potential Cabinet member.

Opposition ‘lacks ideology’

Projecting that Swapo will win in a landslide victory at the upcoming elections, Kamwi labelled the political parties that were formed by disgruntled Swapo members as lacking ideology.

He took a swipe at Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) leader Panduleni Itula, Landless People’s Movement (LPM) president Bernadus Swartbooi and other former Swapo members who went on to form political parties.

“When you look at the south, you talk of Swartbooi and countrywide you talk of Itula, they were simply not happy. If you look at the statements that were given by them, they were allegedly not treated fairly and they came up with their political parties,” he said.

“They are parties without an ideology, other than the fact that they were formed by Swapo members who felt they were mistreated. But there were some who, despite their mistreatment, [stayed in Swapo], people like Comrade Ngurare,” he said.

Speculation rife

“Ngurare stuck [it out] and you can see that finally he was brought on as one of the presidential candidate’s nominees,” Kamwi said.

Ngurare is placed at number 26 on the Swapo parliamentary list. The fact that current agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein has confirmed that he will not be returning as minister in 2025 has only heightened speculation that Ngurare might replace him in that capacity.

Regarding his own status, Kamwi said that although he is out of active politics, he will continue to campaign for the ruling party. “Swapo liberated this country and I cannot betray it,” he declared.

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