Wonder Guchu

The Swapo MP Mandela Kapere, who died Monday morning age 38, was a warm being with a big heart. He was disarming, captivating by the way he articulated his thoughts and imposing by his physical appearance.

I recall my first encounter with him at the NYC offices in 2009 when I was with Informante. It was about an interview and I had to wait for him to come back.

When he came, he did not make it difficult for me to talk to him. Over the years, we have met, spoken and discussed several topics about Pan-Africanism, especially.

In 2019 0n 25 September, we had a conversation on Eagle FM when he was vying for parliament. In the interview, Kapere was clear on what had happened to the youth in the Swapo Party and called for a new policy realignment.

Each conversation was different and inspiring.

On 1 December 2020, just after 09h00, I received a call from Mandela Kapere. I had just finished the programme Unpacking the Day.

One of the things I had discussed on the programme was the nature of politics as in left, centre, and right wings.

It was not strange for Kapere to call. He was also not a stranger to Eagle FM. Kapere was one of the people who came for interviews at Eagle FM in the early days.

The reason for his call on 1 December was to talk about politics. He indeed referred me to his Facebook page where I later discovered that he had also written something about it.

We spoke for more than an hour and our discussion later wandered into the current politics in the country and the ruling Swapo Party.

All I can say is that Kapere could have been the voice of reason not only within the ruling party but to the nation as well.

One of the things he said was that the leadership was not happy with his stance on several aspects. In actual fact, he said he was under fire from the big party wigs.

I asked him if that was why he had offered to resign as the leader assigned to the Hardap region, Kapere said partly but mainly that he wanted to be on the right side of doing things.

Indeed, Kapere has been of late on the right side of doing things. Remember when he called out General Martin Shali for his slit-them comment made at Okahandja on 8 November 2020.

Kapere went on Facebook to describe Shali’s utterances as “unfortunate regardless of the context it was meant in”.

His reasoning was that since Swapo was a signatory to the ECN elections code of conduct, which outlines the climate within which elections should be conducted.

When most Swapo members were denying corruption, Kapere was forthcoming as to how the rot had eroded the party’s “credibility as the people’s saviour and the guarantor for development has been eroded by corruption”.

He added that Swapo members must also accept and realise that “no amount of excuses” will remove corruption from the party’s legacy.

“If we love our party and country as Swapo members, we must accept that corruption has eroded our credibility as the guarantors of our people’s development in a deep and fundamental way,” Kapere wrote.

Indeed, Kapere went to meet Shalli and posted: “It’s always a privilege to sit at the feet of the elders to get a historical perspective on present-day challenges, I had that privilege and honour this morning when I met with General Martin Shali at his home. General Shali is as sharp as a tack and his commitment to the development of Namibia is uncompromised.”