Stefanus Nashama
Swapo regional coordinator in the Omaheke region, Ruth Kaukuata-Mbura, has denied having received any reports of a Swapo member being slapped by another.
This follows claims by the former Omaheke Swapo Women’s League regional coordinator, Bianca Van Wyk, who alleged that the former Omaheke regional governor, Festus Ueitele, slapped her during the Okorukambe branch meeting in Gobabis.
The meeting was set to restructure the branch since the term of the current office bearers has lapsed.
“No one was beaten by Ueitele at the branch meeting and my office did not receive any report that Bianca was beaten,” Kaukuata-Mbura said.
She claims that Bianca is seeking attention because she does not support the new leadership.
“I was not there, but what happened was the renewal of the mandate as usual. The new leadership’s term has lapsed. That is why the branch meets to elect a new leadership,” she explained.
Kaukuata-Mbura urged van Wyk to be humble and stop accusing other members of what they did not commit.
Van Wyk said Ueitele slapped her, and he had no reason to deny it.
Although van Wyk claimed to be beaten, she did not report the matter to the police.
“Even if I go to the police, nothing will happen. His sister works for the police and she will cover him up. The police were at the scene. They interfere in political affairs by choosing who could go to the meeting. I was rocked out. The police have no right to interfere in political activities. Unconstitutional,” she said.
She said it was not the first time Ueitele assaulted her, claiming that he did it in 2019 and when she reported the case, nothing happened.
Van Wyk accused Ueitele and Swapo parliament aspiring candidate Kaire Mbuende of violating the party constitution by transporting Ueitele’s farm workers to ensure a quorum in the meeting.
“The people brought to support Uetele for a quorum to restructure the branch leadership are not from the branch, not even the district,” she stated.
Van Wyk further claimed that they immediately recruited members and gave them membership cards to support Ueitele’s bid to enter parliament.
“How should we send Ueitele to parliament when he is violent? To promote gender-based violence or what now?” she questioned.
She further claimed that the district leadership unconstitutionally brought in a task team to manage the meeting’s operations.
“It is unconstitutional. The so-called Task Team does not exist in the Swapo constitution,” she said.
In response, Ueitele denied these allegations, saying he did not, under any circumstances, slap the woman when asked about the incident on Wednesday.
“There was a Swapo branch meeting where my farm resorts under, and I took my employees who were to partake in the meeting. I did under no circumstances slap a female member or come into physical contact with anyone,” he said.
He said that van Wyk insulted her when he arrived at the branch meeting.
“Upon my arrival at the farm, comrade Bianca Van Wyk, well known to me and understandably currently based in Windhoek, started hurling insults at me in Afrikaans, saying, What is this dog doing here? He doesn’t belong to this branch. I replied by telling the comrades that she was brought to this district from Windhoek to spoil the Swapo party processes, not knowing that my farm is situated in this vicinity. She then continued to insult me, including my mother, which made me lose my temper. Fortunately, the police officer present acted promptly and restrained me from approaching her. We left her outside and continued with the meeting since she was not allowed inside. She was not from that area,” Ueitele explained.
He added that van Wyk had previously accused him of things he did not do.
“I would finally like to make it clear that it is not the first time Bianca van Wyk came with such allegations against me as it happened in the year when she also opened a police case that was later thrown out of court,” he reiterated.
The Okorukambe district coordinator, Frans Murangi, did not confirm if van Wyk was beaten.
“In all fairness, I was not there. I only heard about it. I cannot confirm that she was beaten,” said Murangi.
He, however, accused Mbuende of being the problem in the district, claiming that he had been obstructing district leadership.
“Mbuende is so desperate to go to Parliament. That’s why he is bringing issues to the district. Mbuende and Okorukambe constituency councillor Roco Nguvauva have transported people from Epukiro to come and participate in the affairs of the district when they are not from there. That is where the problem is,” he claimed.
Murangi said that restructuring the branch without the district leadership would not be appropriate under the Swapo constitution.
“They are doing things unconstitutionally only for their own interests. We will take action. We will not leave it here,” he said.
Mbuende was in a meeting when he was contacted.
He had requested that this publication contact him in the afternoon, but his phone remained unanswered despite several attempts.
According to Kaukuata-Mbura, Mbuende was not involved in the situation because the party had already chosen and submitted his name for the electoral college.
