Staff Reporter
THE top leaders of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) have become deaf, insensitive, and inaccessible overlords who look down on the views and contributions of ordinary party members.
That is the synopsis of the accusations levelled against the leadership of the Official Opposition following the recent resignations of four prominent party members.
The latest IPC resignees are Oscar K. Johannes, Karen Shikongo Janecki, Kathy Mandeinge, and Kristofina Ashfield, well known as Shikulumbwati shaKandjolo.
However, it was the resignation of Shikulumbwati that attracted the most reactions on social media.
A former resident of Ongwediva, Shikulumbwati is currently based in the United Kingdom and had become an IPC celebrity on social media, mostly due to her incessant attacks on SWAPO and government leaders, and her no-holds-barred approach to vulgar language.
The resignees issued a joint statement accusing the party of having profoundly deviated from its founding principles.
In reaction, many of IPC’s rank-and-file members and supporters blamed their leadership for destroying the party by stubbornly refusing to listen and by being hostile to any kind of criticism.
The series of resignations that hit the IPC this year include that of
Christian Thapa Mukuve and Theophelius Diyerenge, both branch chairpersons in the Mukwe Constituency in the Kavango East.
Other prominent IPC leaders who resigned from the party in March this year include:
- Deputy National Secretary-General Patrick Kashera,
- Kavango East Chairperson Richard Dinyando,
- Vice-Chairperson Shiyave Mwengere,
- Regional Women’s Secretary Sandrina Matamu,
- National Council of Patriot Members Kaveto Ambrosius, and
- Muremwa Athanasius.
While many of IPC’s social media commentators downplayed the resignations as “inconsequential”, others — equally numerous — expressed the view that the series of resignations have immersed the party in a serious crisis months before crucial elections and might signal the beginning of the end for the 5-year-old political formation.
Caption
PICTURED: Kristofina Ashfield, aka Shikulumbwati shaKandjolo.
