Staff Reporter
Armas Amukwiyu, the Oshikoto regional coordinator of the ruling Swapo Party, has stated that he is “still in the dark” regarding the withdrawal of two Swapo members from the Upper House of Parliament. The two members are Phillemon Ndjambula of the Olukonda constituency and Sakeus Nangula of the Omuntele constituency.
Ndjambula and Nangula, along with councilor Hans Linekela Nambondi of the Okankolo Constituency, represented the region in the National Council (NC). Nambondi retained his NC seat.
Amukwiyu has distanced himself and his regional office from what appears to be an unconstitutional step taken by the Oshikoto Regional Council recently.
According to Article 70 of the Namibian Constitution, members of the National Council shall hold their seats for five years from the date of their election and shall be eligible for re-election. The current National Council members’ term ends only in 2025.
Amukwiyu clarified that the ruling party had no involvement in Ndjambula and Nangula’s withdrawal from the NC.
“That was entirely a Regional Council decision. My office was not involved. I am still waiting to be briefed because they are Swapo party councilors, and the party expects to be updated on what is going on. But I am still in the dark,” he said.
However, sources within Swapo claim that the two councilors were withdrawn from the NC as a punishment for supporting “the wrong candidates” before and during last year’s Swapo Party congress.
“There is no doubt that this is revenge. They were punished for supporting the wrong candidates, as they were the only regional councilors in Oshikoto who supported [Netumbo] Nandi-Ndaitwah and [Sophia] Shaningwa,” said a fairly senior member of the ruling party.
During the congress, Nandi-Ndaitwah and Shaningwa were seeking re-election as Vice President (VP) and Secretary-General (SG) of the party, respectively, and eventually prevailed against strong challenges from Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and Environment Minister Pohamba Shifeta (for VP), and Amukwiyu (for SG).
As a result, Ndjambula and Nangula have become ordinary members of the regional council. Gotty Ndjendjela, the Tsumeb constituency councillor, and Mateus Kamati, the Onayena constituency councillor, have been chosen to replace them.
