Life after parliament: What’s in store for MPs that won’t be back?

The lifestyle of a big pool of members of parliament (MPs), including long-serving ministers, might have to change after they failed to make it to the top of their party list for an automatic comeback to the house.

While some might be saved by president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah through her eight nominees to parliament – others might be waving goodbye to the august house.

The list includes prominent bigwigs in the administration of president Nangolo Mbumba. For context, only three of the 18 ministers have secured their seats.

In equal measure, only eight deputy ministers regained access to the National Assembly.

Swapo only secured 51 seats, down from the 63 it won in the 2019 polls.

Some of the ministers facing the proverbial political abyss are mines and energy minister Tom Alweendo, higher education minister Itah Kandji-Murangi, international relations minister Peya Mushelenga, defence minister Frans Kapofi, presidential affairs minister Christine

//Hoëbes, National Planning Commission director general Obeth Kandjoze, labour minister Utoni Nujoma, urban and rural development minister Erastus Utoni and basic education minister Anna Nghipondoka.

Deputy prime minister and minister of works and transport John Mutorwa, agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein, justice minister Yvonne Dausab, and gender minister Doreen Sioka opted out of the party’s political contest, opting for retirement from public service.

Schlettwein says he is eager to indulge in his interest for photography and being an author.

“I announced my retirement two years ago. I am going voluntarily. I will, of course, pursue a number of things and one is photography and to publish my images and writings. I also want to write a bit and spend time with my family,” he says.

Schlettwein has served in the country’s Cabinet since 2012.

Dausab opted to remain tightlipped when quizzed.

“For now, I am employed as a minister of justice. Let us talk on the 22nd of March [next year],” she says.

Sioka, meanwhile, says retiring is not a “strange” phenomenon and eyes farming to survive after decades in politics.

She joined politics at the age of 15 as a freedomfighter.

Sioka has been a member of the National Assembly of Namibia since 1994 and a member of Cabinet since 2005, serving as minister of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare.

She is 64 years old.

“I have served my country diligently according to my best capacity from the age of 15 and it is not strange to retire.

I have a 200 hectare plot at my old village and that is where I will farm,” she says.

YOUTH AND OUT

Youthful parliamentarian Maximilliant Katjimune joined the fray of lawmakers five years ago after being ushered in as part of a cohort of radical and sharp thinking young activists poised to shake the august house from its slumber.

Katjimune, a bona fide member of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) – the official opposition in Namibia, at least until March next year after it lost 11 seats – will be left jobless.

PDM only gained five seats, and he, like many others, did not make the cut.

“I can pursue my career in the legal profession apart from being in parliament,” says Katjimune about his plans after life as a highly ranked politician.

“I can even return in 2029 or 2045. Who knows?” he says.

This also means they will forgo a hefty salary of N$51 000 per month as MP’s.

National Unity Democratic Organisation president Esther Muinjangue, who doubles as deputy minister of health, has also been pushed to the periphery of politics with no seat in the next National Assembly.

“I am over 60 years old now, so I cannot be a public servant in any way, but with my previous employer, the University of Namibia, someone can work beyond the age of 60 up until 65 and so on,” she says.

Muinjangue currently earns N$65 000 per month.

Transport, telephone, water and electricity bills of ministers and deputies are paid by the government. In addition, PDM parliamentarian Charmaine Tjirare says she is not worried about any “big” shift in her life, saying she is a qualified teacher and may return to the classroom.

“I have worked at the Namibia University of Science and Technology in the office of the registrar for a period of seven years where I resigned before joining parliament.

So I am hoping for something. I have been working on an exit strategy,” Tjirare says.

She is also pursuing a master’s degree in applied linguistics.

“I am not worried about any big shift at all,” she reckons.

Kapofi, on the other hand, says the change symbolises freedom.

“For me, I will just enjoy my country. Go to Etosha, go to my plot, fishing and just running around like a free citizen again. I am definitely looking forward to it,” he says.

Kapofi has served in various positions in Cabinet since 1999, including in the ministries of home affairs and defence.