Is Swapo Going The SA Route?

“The Party has the right to withdraw anyone.

You have seen what happened in South Africa [where the ANC instructed President Thabo Mbeki to resign].

You can’t hibernate in Swapo,” Geingob said.

The Namibian does not buy Geingob’s assertion about hibernation.

There are far more fundamental issues at stake.

In what is clearly emerging as two factions in Swapo, Geingob is known to be close to the camp that is demanding from government officials direct accountability to the Party’s headquarters.

His view of “democratic centralism” is no different to the modus operandi of Stalinist parties of yesteryear.

Party control over its government appointees is non-negotiable, according to Geingob, and his comments are a clear warning to leaders in the Swapo government that any attempt to overrule Party instructions will be dealt with severely by the Party itself.

In the other camp, President Hifikepunye Pohamba has pronounced that it is his prerogative to hire and fire Cabinet ministers.

This came after the Swapo Youth League demanded that ministers Willem Konjore and Helmut Angula be fired from the Cabinet.

There is little doubt that the South African scenario may well be played out in our country.

Thabo Mbeki was ousted as President of the country by the very party that put him in power.

After Judge Wilkinson found that there may have been political interference from the Presidency to put ANC President Jacob Zuma in the dock on corruption charges, the post-Polokwane ANC leadership took this as a cue to pursue their charge against Mbeki.

The new leadership of the ruling party has repeatedly lambasted Mbeki for losing touch with the masses.

Mbeki’s Bonapartist regime, according to the new leadership, has ensured that he was accountable only to his Ministers and to the business councils that he entertains.

The ANC’s mandates about the privatisation of state-owned companies, about redistribution of wealth, about the hegemonic influence of business in political matters of state, were being ignored by the President of the country, the incumbent ANC leaders seem to be saying.

For these reasons, Mbeki had to go.

Swapo, however, is vastly different to the ANC.

Namibia’s ruling party does not have 96 years under its belt; it does not have the experience of the oldest liberation movement in Africa; and, it does not have the memory banks of dissension under its wings.

For Swapo to go the ANC route of recall, it will have to build a decisive leadership with layers of deputies and cadres to come forward if and when the need arises.

It will have to create a sophisticated think-tank of the highest order to develop strategies and tactics to cause the South African-style palace revolution and remove its anointed government leaders who don’t toe the line.

Desirable as this might be for the political bosses at Swapo’s headquarters, the reality is that the Party is deeply divided itself.

While class issues and class interests formed part of the former liberation movement’s lexicon in the 1970s and the 1980s, these are hardly even mentioned today.

Instead, personality issues, jealousies, money, greed, lifestyles and benefits seem to top the agendas of Swapo antagonists.

The Namibian would advocate for greater accountability from government officials.

But this must not be at the expense of our multi-party democracy.

While state officials are indeed accountable to their political parties, the oath or pledge taken by them is to the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia, and not to the different constitutions or manifestos of the parties they represent in parliament.

The South African route is fraught with danger.

Proper planning and careful strategising are not the only ingredients to make such a route plausible.

Swapo will need to work out whether it is able to cope with the fallout.

Indications are that this is not the case and the country could well be plunged into multiple crises if they proceed along this path.