Stefanus Nashama
Swapo member Reinhold Shipwikineni, has given the ruling party, Swapo seven days to furnish him with the minutes of the politburo meeting of 5 September 2022 and the central committee meeting of 10 September 2022.
Failure to do so will mean that Shipwikineni will approach the High Court of Namibia with an application that if granted will compel Swapo to provide the documents he is looking for.
This follows after Shipwikineni, through his legal representative, Nafimane Halweendo wrote a letter to Swapo Party, demanding the politburo and central committee minutes in relation to the nominations of the top four positions of the Swapo Party last week Tuesday.
“Yes, upon receiving the letter, I have given the party seven working days to provide those minutes. If not, I will take them to High Court,” he said yesterday in an interview with the Windhoek Observer.
Shipwikineni, who is a former Former Swapo Youth League Branch Coordinator of Okahenge in Walvis Bay Urban, is alleging that the nominations for the top four positions were done except for the Swapo Presidency which was ‘endorsed’ by the politburo in favour of Dr Hage Geingob.
He said in September 2013, the politburo and central committee violated the party rules and procedures to endorse Geingob as the sole candidate for the party president position, and not allow nominations for other eligible members who wanted to run for the position.
“We have procedures and laws to follow in the party, but they were never followed or obeyed. The law shall be respected by everyone. There was no nomination done for the party president,” he said.
He said if leaders are not fulfilling the rules within the party, they should be held accountable.
“I have the right, as a Swapo member, to demand the meeting minutes of the politburo and that of the central committee. I have served for many years on the youth league central committee. I have also served in many positions and many structures. Some members wanted to nominate me for the party president position but they were not allowed to do so,” Shipwikineni said.
He claimed that members were not allowed to run for the party president position, therefore, it cannot be legally correct to say Geingob was procedurally and lawfully elected as party president.
“There is a misunderstanding of the law in the party. Members have the right and privilege for nominations, and elected for the position in the party, for as long as they qualify,” he indicated.
The letter of demand states: “Our or about the 5th September 2022, the Swapo Party political bureau met intending to nominate candidates for the top four positions namely, president, vice president, secretary-general and deputy secretary-general.
“The current Swapo Party President, Geingob was never nominated by the Politburo or the central committee and not seconded as required by the electoral rules and procedures,” he claimed in the letter.
The letter further states that both the Swapo party politburo and the central committee never allowed eligible members to be nominated for the party presidency but rather endorsed Dr Geingob as the sole candidate, a procedure that is not established in law.
“Their conduct is thus ultra vires. Dr Geingob was therefore not properly elected into office as the Swapo President as is required by Article 15(5) of the Swapo constitution,” the letter reads.
Our client, being an eligible member for Swapo’s presidency and other eligible members were therefore not accorded a fair opportunity to be nominated, seconded, and considered for election at Swapo’s congress due to the unlawful administrative conduct taken by the Politburo and central committee, the letter further reads.
We hereby demand that the Swapo Party furnishes our client (Shipwiikineni) with minutes of the Politburo meeting of 5 September 2022 and the central committee meeting of 10 September 2022 within seven working days of receipt of this letter, the letter further states.
The letter further states that “We have instructions to bring an application to compel the party to provide the minutes of both bodies and further relief concerning the position of Swapo Party president if the above demands are not met.
Meanwhile, Shipwikineni’s legal representative, Halweendo said the Office of the Swapo Secretary-General has received the letter.
“They have received the letter from our client, and we are only waiting for the response. Yes, the letter was written at our legal firm on behalf of Shipwikineni, our client. We are just waiting for the response within the seven days as indicated in the letter,” he said.
