Haulamba la Nangobe
My fellow Namibians, in general, and, in particular, my fellow SWAPO members, supporters, or sympathisers.
Following its Electoral College over the weekend, there is now a simmering unhappiness, particularly among returnee SWAPO members who say that the top positions on SWAPO’s list for National Assembly (“NA”) are dominated by remainees and youthful members of SWAPO who were never in exile during the liberation struggle for Namibian independence.
This discontedness is particularly acute among ex-PLAN combatants and old guard SWAPO leaders, many of whom are now saying that they are extremely under-represented or even excluded on the latest party list for members of NA.
However, this here Haulamba points out that if those provisions of Namibian Constitution (“NC”) relating to the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers were to be respected and upheld, then there would be no concerns at all that some categories of SWAPO members are under-represented on that party list.
Haulamba wishes to repeat here what he has been saying ever since Namibian independence that this country has been governed in flagrant disregard of those constitutional provisions of NC, which require that the country must be governed in accordance with NC. Please consider these constitutional facts:
The first fact is this: NC strictly prohibits cabinet ministers to remain members of NA once and after they had been appointed by the President as Cabinet ministers and ipso facto had ceased to have the qualifications which rendered them eligible to be members of the National Assembly (see Article 48(1)(a) of NC).
The second constitutional fact is this: all Cabinet ministers are reporting, responsible and accountable to members of NA (see paragraph 3 of the Preamble to NC and Articles 32(2), 40(c), 40(e-h) and 41 of NC). This implicitly also means that Cabinet ministers must not be reporting, responsible, and accountable to themselves!
The third legal fact is this: after 27 November 2024, all candidates listed on SWAPO’s party list (and there are at least 181 candidates on that list) will have been duly elected as members of NA (see Articles 49 and 46 of NC).
The fourth fact is this: Any of those 181 candidates who had been elected in accordance with Articles 46 and 49 of NC to NA on 27 November 2024 will have the right and privilege to be appointed by the president to become cabinet ministers and deputy ministers.
In light of the above constitutional and legal facts, all that must be done now by SWAPO and its presidential candidate is to ensure that the above-mentioned constitutional doctrine of separation of powers is strictly upheld and respected as from March 21 2025 onwards.
Haulamba la Nangobe, real name Phil ya Nangoloh, is a human rights practitioner and prolific writer.
