Angula explains age limit proposal

A YOUTH leader who joins Swapo at the age of 25 might have to wait for 30 years more to contest for the presidential position in the party.

This could happen if a proposal tabled two weeks ago by Swapo spokesperson Helmut Angula succeeds.

Angula issued a statement last week to clarify a story by The Namibian which said he tabled a proposal that a candidate aspiring for the top four positions should have served 30 years in the party’s 84-member central committee.

The Namibian SMSed him on Tuesday before publishing that story, and Angula answered that “those are proposals. They will be discussed in an appropriate forum”.

He returned on Thursday, claiming that the article was out of context, and noting that the proposals he tabled stated that people who want to compete for the party presidency and vice presidency should have been members of the party for 30 years, of which five must have been as a member of the central committee.

In that case, a young person who joins the party at 30 years with ambitions to be a president will likely wait until he or she is 55 years to run for the party leader’s position.

That’s if Angula’s proposal is added to the ongoing constitutional amendments.

In comparison, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, won the presidency this year at the age of 39.

Angula (71), said the proposal is that potential candidates vying for the secretary general and deputy secretary general would need 25 years as a party member, of which five must have been as a member of the central committee.

He reiterated that there is nothing wrong with the proposal.

“These are draft discussion proposals, which had been considered by the central committee and accepted in principle as sound, and aimed at ensuring that those who seek to lead the party have had a sufficient period in the Swapo party, and have served in its decision-making organs and structures,” he stated.

He added: “Any organ of the Swapo party has a right to propose amendments to the Swapo constitution, and any such proposals are subject to various stages before being adopted by the Swapo congress, and being operational.”

Ironically, Angula’s proposal comes at a time when youth leaders are pushing for reforms to stop party elders from running to become the President of the country.

The Affirmative Repositioning movement’s leader, Job Amupanda, is leading the call to set a cut-off age for politicians who want to run the highest office in the land.

“Why is it that some people retire at 60, and others start their careers at 70?” he asked rhetorically in an interview with The Namibian in May this year.