Hertta-Maria Amutenya
Investigative journalist Sonja Smith, who made it to the list of National Assembly candidates of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) for 2025-2029, is not a card-carrying member of the party.
Smith is one of PDM president McHenry Venaani’s ten presidential nominees.
The party secretary general, Manuel Ngaringombe, confirmed this to the Windhoek Observer on Wednesday.
“Sonja is not a member of the party. She was a journalist and then she got a job through parliament to be the personal assistant to McHenry Venaani as a civil servant. She is on the parliament payroll. Working as a PA, she continues to work as a journalist because she is not a PDM member,” he said.
He said Smith got the urge to become a politician because of her exposure to parliament and journalism.
Ngaringombe explained that Venaani selected her because she was ready to become part of us.
“She will get a party card very soon,” said Ngaringombe.
He asserts that she must become a member of a political party in order for the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to register her name.
He explained that her nomination has nothing to do with politics but with what she can bring to the table.
“For the president to nominate people, he looks beyond politics. He looks at the experts and diversity. A president has the authority to nominate anyone from an opposition party to serve in his cabinet. We have a good example with what late President Hage Geigob did with the nomination of Ester Muinjangue as the deputy minister of health and social services,” said Ngaringombe.
The Namibian newspaper managing editor, Tangeni Amupadhi, said the paper will part ways with Smith now that she has turned to politics.
“The freelance work and contract is unlikely to continue as she’s moved into active party politics beyond being a mere employee. The change from researcher to politician is incompatible with our principles of independent journalism,” said Amupadhi.
Amupadhi confirmed that The Namibian had known about her close connection to McHenry Venaani, leader of the PDM.
“We have known that Ms. Sonja Smith worked as a researcher at parliament assigned to the official opposition,” he said.
Amupadhi explained that the potential conflict of interest had been mitigated by ensuring that Smith did not cover political party matters.
“We mitigated the potential conflict of interest by stipulating that she’d not be covering party politics and such matters that may be partisan and affecting her role as an employee of a political organisation, albeit parliamentary research work,” said Amupadhi.
When asked about the possibility of Smith returning to journalism if she does not make it to parliament, Amupadhi refrained from speculating.
“That’s not for The Namibian to speculate about. She has been a freelance journalist for us and other media organisations, providing coverage on important issues. Sonja has served The Namibian professionally as a great journalist. We wish her the best in her future undertakings,” said Amupadhi.
