Obrein Simasiku
Five serving Swapo council partaking in the vote of no confidence exercise held on Tuesday, which was initiated by the Affirmative Repositioning Movement leading to the dissolution of the previous management.
The exercise saw two Swapo councillors, Austin Kwenani and Sam Nujoma joining the management committee, placing the party in a decision making organ, as all its five members were just ordinary councillors. Following Tuesday’s dissolution, the Swapo councillors including Queen Kamati, Fransina Kahungu and Magdalena Pienaar-Lombardt, were summoned yesterday to explain to the Regional Executive Committee, how and why they participated in the vote of no confidence against the instruction of the party.
The saying that there is ‘no permanent friend or enemy’’ in politics rings true in the new alliances that were made between unlikely partners namely Swapo, AR and the Landless People’s Movement to throw, Independent Patriots out of the management committee.
This directive was issued on 12 August by the Swapo Khomas regional coordinator, Elliot Mbako, who ordered them to refrain from engaging in the exercise. However, Mbako today backtracked on that decision, saying being in the management committee was crucial as it ensures decisions taken at the local authority are implemented timeously.
“The REC meeting held on 24 August fully appreciates the latest development in relation to the election of MC members that took place on 23 August. It was relayed at the meeting that the decision of the councillors was fully in compliance with the Local Authority Act of 1992 and Loca Authorities Standing Rules of Order,” said Mbako.
While the Swapo Party Khomas Regional Executive Committee on 11 August 2022, resolved that Swapo party councillors must abstain from any vote of no confidence, Mbako said that in hindsight they now see that the councillors took a wise decision.
Mbako added that, “after due consideration of precarious state of leadership in the MC at the time, the body tasked with the key mandate to implement council resolutions; the Swapo Party councillors in consultation with the REC, unanimously deemed it necessary to partake in the scheduled election in order to guarantee timeous service delivery to city’s inhabitants.”
Ilse Keister of Affirmative Repositioning movement was elected as MC chairperson, Clemencia Hanases of Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), while the Landless People’s Movement’s Ivan Skywer and Mayor Sade Gawanas, including her deputy Joseph Uapingene of NUDO maintained their positions.
The ousted councilors are IPC’s Ndeshihafela Larandja, Bernadus Araeb, Ottlie Uukule and Jurgen Hecht.
The vote of no confidence was tabled by AR’s Keister in a council meeting earlier this months, claiming that, then management was incompetent and dominated by members from one party [IPC] receiving instruction on how to run city affairs from outside. This was contested by IPC quartet in the High Court, in which they sought an interdict to prevent the meeting which ousted them from taking place. The application was unsuccessful.
