Swapo Party lost most of its branches amid delay in Kavango East.

By Robert Maseka

WINDHOEK, JUNE 16 – For the first time since Independence, Swapo party in Kavango East will have very few delegates to it’s conferences and congresses or at any national party event due to fewer branches.

The history power of influence of Kavango people enjoyed in Swapo Party was also dealt a heavy blow as most Swapo branches have been reduced to one section or two if that certain branch was big.

Swapo party is expected to loose more than hundred (100) branches when the renewal exercise ends.

No district was spared but the hardest hit is Ndiyona constituency were by Swapo party branches in that district were reduced from 33 in the past to 5 branches only now as the renewal of mandate is apparently completed in that area as per report forwarded to Swapo Head office in Windhoek by Swapo regional office of Kavango East.

The only explanations the leadership of Swapo party in the region are giving on lost and the creations of new branches in the region is because they are following the data of members they recorded per branches and constitution.

However some members are accusing the regional leadership of doing things beyond their mandate, hiding behind the constitution, targeting certain branches they see don’t get support to reduce it to sections and they doing it without knowledge of leaders assigned to region and politburo one member commented.

The advanced stage of renewal of mandate is that majority completed district conferences while in Mashare constituency not a single branch completed.

However according to the report sent to head office from the region, it was indicated that Mashare district through its coordinator Gidion Haingura completed 18 sections so far from the branches within the district, but however many are disputing it as a cover up and questioning how inland branches with few people can constitute quorum of branches than those majority living along-side Kavango river.

Our reporter could not get hold of District coordinator Haingura to comment on the accusations that he misused funds intended for the restructuring hence the delay but however he is well shielded by supervisors as they offer good support according to his critics.

We could not also get hold of lecture at Swapo Party school Charles Mubita whose name is going around that he is the advisor of Swapo Party leadership in Kavango East during this ongoing excersise of renewal of mandate. Mubita is accused of advising the leadership to leave some branches which are not cooperating and in Mashare they decided to leave some branches out which never happened in the history of Swapo party before.

When contacted for comment as why Swapo party lost so many branches in Kavango East,the acting Swapo Party Coordinator and Secretary of Elder in Kavango East Alfons Dikuwa confirmed on the massive loss of branches of the party in the region and he told Namibia Daily News today that the leadership in the past never followed constitution when they formed branches in the region and for them as a new leadership are making sure that they are following correctly constitution time.

“According to constitution a branch must provide us from fifteen (15) to one hundred (100) membership for them to qualify a branch.” Dikuwa said.

When asked as when the exercise of renewal of mandate going to end in his region Dikuwa said that the process is extended up to the end of July,

Dikuwa couldn’t comment on the accusations that the process of renewal of mandate is not transparent and if they got permission from politburo to trim the party leadership in the region to that the size of the two previous Districts.

Some are accusing the leadership of killing the region’s representatives to any national party event such as Electoral college and congresses hence are calling this process sham and calling on national leadership to nullify the process and start afresh at to keep all original Swapo Party branches. Efforts to get comment from the Party’s Secretary General were fruitless.