Swapo denies seeking funding assistance to win November elections
Swapo Party secretary-general Sophia Shaningwa has refuted allegations that the party is seeking financial assistance from the Communist Party of China to win the November elections.
She made these remarks on her arrival from China at the Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday, emphasising that the party shares a special bilateral political relationship with the communist party and that there was nothing untoward about her recent trip.
According to Shaningwa, her travels to China earlier this month were for preparations regarding the parties' relationship, adding that allegations that Swapo had gone to seek assistance ahead of the November elections came as a surprise the party's leaders.
“I would like to make it categorically clear that my mission to China was bilateral as usual. I am not the first secretary-general to visit the Chinese communist party,” she said.
She added that the two parties will continue to assist each other, as has been the case since the inception of their relationship before independence by Sam Nujoma, then-Swapo president. “We have that sister friendship, and we will continue to respect it on a mutual basis,” she noted.
Not doing anything illegal
In response to reports that controversial businesswoman Stina Wu was part of her entourage to China, Shaningwa said: “There was no Chinese [national] in the delegation that I left Namibia with. The total of nine delegates included Swapo’s members of the central committee under my office, a member of the political bureau, a youth leader and a deputy administrator in my office”.
There have also been allegations that she took along Peter Shaama, chief electoral and referenda officer of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), to allegedly prepare ballot papers ahead of the elections later this year.
In response, Shaningwa said: “[Shaama] has never been part of my delegation", adding that preparing and handling ballot papers is a collective process, involving all political parties participating in the elections. “This is where the danger is – it doesn’t work like that. Swapo is a party of order that respects the law. It is very irresponsible of people to start tainting the name of the party. We are not doing anything illegal,” she noted.
Shaningwa further emphasised that calls that Shaama should be fired because he was in China are "dangerous", as this is a political and very sensitive matter.
“As far as our democracy is concerned, we must not give information to the nation [that we cannot back up with facts] just because we want to score cheap political points. Swapo Party will wait in line to be told when the ballot papers are ready, like everyone else.”
She made these remarks on her arrival from China at the Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday, emphasising that the party shares a special bilateral political relationship with the communist party and that there was nothing untoward about her recent trip.
According to Shaningwa, her travels to China earlier this month were for preparations regarding the parties' relationship, adding that allegations that Swapo had gone to seek assistance ahead of the November elections came as a surprise the party's leaders.
“I would like to make it categorically clear that my mission to China was bilateral as usual. I am not the first secretary-general to visit the Chinese communist party,” she said.
She added that the two parties will continue to assist each other, as has been the case since the inception of their relationship before independence by Sam Nujoma, then-Swapo president. “We have that sister friendship, and we will continue to respect it on a mutual basis,” she noted.
Not doing anything illegal
In response to reports that controversial businesswoman Stina Wu was part of her entourage to China, Shaningwa said: “There was no Chinese [national] in the delegation that I left Namibia with. The total of nine delegates included Swapo’s members of the central committee under my office, a member of the political bureau, a youth leader and a deputy administrator in my office”.
There have also been allegations that she took along Peter Shaama, chief electoral and referenda officer of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), to allegedly prepare ballot papers ahead of the elections later this year.
In response, Shaningwa said: “[Shaama] has never been part of my delegation", adding that preparing and handling ballot papers is a collective process, involving all political parties participating in the elections. “This is where the danger is – it doesn’t work like that. Swapo is a party of order that respects the law. It is very irresponsible of people to start tainting the name of the party. We are not doing anything illegal,” she noted.
Shaningwa further emphasised that calls that Shaama should be fired because he was in China are "dangerous", as this is a political and very sensitive matter.
“As far as our democracy is concerned, we must not give information to the nation [that we cannot back up with facts] just because we want to score cheap political points. Swapo Party will wait in line to be told when the ballot papers are ready, like everyone else.”
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