By:Megameno Shinana, Annakleta Haikera and Uakutura KambaekuaProfessor Joseph Diescho has expressed that the two Kavango regions have been used as voting cows in the Swapo congress election to impress certain candidates at the expense of their own interests.
The political critic said these words in the wee hours of the Swapo delegates casting their votes, at the back of allegations from tourism minister, Pohamba Shifeta, who is also vying for the Vice-Presidential post, alleging that some were being intimidated into not voting for certain candidates.
Ahead of the congress Shifeta, expressed that delegates were being cautioned that they would lose their jobs if they did not vote “correctly”.
Commenting on the role of the Kavangos in this round, Diescho said, naturally, a delegate does not express his or her personal choice in electoral processes but carries the choice of the people he or she is representing.
He said; therefore, regions should have caucused properly and meaningfully in order to agree on a regional position regarding which candidate to choose in accordance with the issues of the region.”
“Regions should have figured out carefully who of the contesting candidates is good for the interests of the region. It would appear that Kavangos always go as supporters of other regional interests or to please individual candidates so that they can be rewarded personally and not as representatives of Kavango.”
“Remember that in parliament members vote per the party that sent them there, not according to their personal views. In other words, Kavango delegates either think that Kavango does not have her own interests or that they go Not on behalf of Kavango, and do not care about Kavango but are there to cater for their own stomachs,” he said.
Diescho bemoaned that regional interests are not in the equation of Kavango politics.
He said that, rather, Kavango delegates have entered the congress with the sole purpose to impress individual candidates to look at them when the next appointments are made.
“Makura. Keho. In other words, if people of the Kavango regions were committed to uplifting their people and knew their own interests and their suffering, it would be difficult or impossible to see how the current prime minister can claim that she cared about Kavango throughout her political life.”
“Kavango with the second highest number of voters and Rundu being the second largest town in the country would not be the poorest region today! Do your math and see how Kavangos are truly half-Namibians and remain voting cows. Kavangos are up to be grabbed by the highest bidder! Esi asili ekunde mekunde!” he exclaimed.
In the meantime, the Swapo party regional coordinator for Kunene, Julius Kaujova, said the congress will likely elect one of the candidates based on merit more than loyalty lines.
“The delegates this time are saying that they are going to look at leaders who convincingly expressed themselves in addressing the issues of corruption, bread and butter issues, poverty eradication, addressing unemployment in the country.”
“The bigger picture here is, after the announcement of congress, the winner for the VP position, is going to take the lead and make sure that he or she is going to contest the presidential elections. We need to have a very strong candidate, a brand, who is going to convince not just Swapo party members but also sympathisers and everyone out there to say even though this person is a Swapo candidate, because of his or her integrity and credibility, this time am going to vote for this person,” he said.
For Kaujova, the immediate for the victor is to reclaim the party’s two-thirds majority in parliament and regain lost constituencies.
“This is not just congress picking up anybody, it’s a congress to filter a candidate who is brand, and equally so who will be acknowledged and embraced by the Namibian people and not just Swapo members,” he said.