WINDHOEK: Swapo Party Chief Whip Professor Peter Katjavivi strongly rubbished allegations that the the restructuring of party structure from sections to branches in Okahandja was unfair. While some party were conducting their elective meeting at the Epandulo Hall on Friday evening, other Swapo members in a convoy marched from Five Rand informal settlement chanting Swapo party slogans.
They were stopped by the Namibian Police Officers who were waiting at the gate of the entrance Epandulo Quarters.

The disgruntled group claimed that the restructuring is not fair neither transparent. It was alleged that the meeting that the persons who were nominating section leaders and branch leaders were not Swapo members.

It was also alleged that certain ethnic groups were disadvantaged in the process. “Contrary to these wild and baseless allegations, the meeting proceeded orderly and in fact the members were visibly happy in electing their representatives as required by the Swapo party Constitution,” Katjavivi told Nampa in an interview last night before the members in the Hall started and continued with their elections.
“During the course of the meeting, there were incidences where some of the complainants and their representatives tried to present to us the assigned national leaders of the region what they alleged to have been already constituted lists of section and branch leadership,” he said.

Katjavivi explained that, however, in most of these cases, when the assigned leaders tasked them to provide them with the minutes and attendance of the meetings where these section and branch leadership were constituted, they had none.

The assigned members present included, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Tjekero Tweya, Deputy Minister of Finance Calle Schelltwein, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nico Kaiyamo and Swapo Party Member of Parliament Moses Amweelo.

“This led us to conclude that they had a hidden agenda and since all the members who were part of those branches were in the 19 July 2012 meeting there was no harm in re-doing the exercise in a transparent manner,” he stated.

Several Sections and branches conducted the business in this manner, those who were not covered during Thursday’s exercise were informed that they will be taken care of in the meeting of Friday.
“It is therefore as a result of this call for transparency and fairness, which is one of the strongest pillars of our Swapo Party that those, whose unclear intentions were exposed, are trying to spread malicious allegations,” he stated further.

The election of the section and branch leadership was undertaken by the members of the party themselves within the district and the assigning national leaders were simply overseeing the exercise as required, he emphasised.

He then called upon the meeting to proceed to finality as agreed and urged the members to maintain unity within the ranks and file of the party. Three members to be elected during this meeting will be automatically participate in the upcoming Swapo Party Congress.

(edited)OKAHANDJA) – A group of Swapo members on Friday evening staged a peaceful demonstration here, claiming that the party’s Okahandja District restructuring meeting that was underway at the time, was unfair, as there were non-Swapo members present.

The group of about 100 Swapo members marched, while chanting Swapo slogans, from the Five Rand informal settlement to the Epandulo Hall where the meeting was taking place since Thursday, just to be stopped by the Namibian Police Force (NamPol) at the gate of the hall.
They claimed that reorganisation process of the party’s structures from section to branch level here was not transparent.

It was also alleged that certain ethnic groups were disadvantaged in the process. However, Swapo-Party Chief Whip, Professor Peter Katjavivi strongly rubbished allegations that the restructuring process was unfair.

“Contrary to these wild and baseless allegations, the meeting proceeded orderly, and in fact, the members were visibly happy in electing their representatives as required by the Swapo-Party Constitution,” he told Nampa at the venue on Friday.

Katjavivi, who is one of the national leaders assigned to the Otjozondjupa Region, said that during the course of the meeting there were incidences where some representatives tried to present to the assigned national leaders of the region, what they alleged to have been already constituted lists of section and branch leaders.

“However, when we (national leaders) tasked them to provide us with the minutes and attendance of the meetings where those section and branch leaderships were constituted (elected), they could not,” said Katjavivi.

The other national leaders assigned to the region are Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Tjekero Tweya, Deputy Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nico Kaiyamo and Swapo-Party Member of Parliament Moses Amweelo, and they were all present on Thursday and Friday.
“This led us to conclude that they had a hidden agenda, and since all the members were in the Thursday-meeting, there was no harm in re-doing the (election) exercise in a transparent manner,” he stated.

Several sections and branches then conducted the business in that manner.
“It is, therefore, as a result of this call for transparency and fairness, which is one of the strongest pillars of our Swapo Party, that those, whose unclear intentions were exposed, are trying to spread malicious allegations,” he stated further.

The elections of the section and branch leaderships was undertaken by the members of the party themselves within the district, and the national leaders assigned to the region were simply overseeing the exercise as required. Three members will be elected during that meeting to participate in the Swapo-Party Congress at the end of November this year.