‘Keep Swapo in power until Jesus comes’

OPPOSITION parties are on the warpath after prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila took a leaf out of former South African president Jacob Zuma’s political playbook by saying that Swapo should be kept in power until Jesus returns.

Zuma had infamously declared in 2008 that his party, the African National Congress, would rule South Africa until Jesus comes – a mantra he went on to repeat over subsequent years, before eventually being recalled for his role in state capture.

On Sunday, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila linked Swapo staying in power to the predicted return of the Christian saviour.

Speaking at Swapo’s 62nd birthday anniversary at Okatana near Oshakati, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called on Swapo members and supporters to unite to prevent the party from being toppled by the opposition.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, who is said to be one of the contenders for a top Swapo post at this year’s elective congress, said the party should be kept in power indefinitely.

This was her second 62nd birthday anniversary address in the Oshana region, after also addressing the Salomon Awala branch at Aakweenyanga village near Ongwediva on Saturday.

“Let’s unite. We must not allow our party to be defeated by opposition parties. We will not allow Swapo to be defeated until Jesus comes back.”

She further urged party members and supporters adorned with Swapo colours and sitting in three big white marquees not to allow the Okatana constituency, or any part of Namibia to be ruled by opposition parties.

Landless People’s Movement (LPM) spokesperson Eneas Emvula described the prime minister’s comment as “despicable and blasphemy”.

“It’s unfortunate that not even the Bible, which she seems to have quoted from, permits such blasphemy. Particularly not from someone who is supposed to be holding a critical role in the current Swapo-led government,” he said.

Emvula added that Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s comments show Swapo’s desperation to cling to power and not accept defeat during the 2024 national elections.

He said if defeated, Swapo would possibly resort to violence and instigate civil disorder.

“No single opposition party is foreign; we are all Namibians under the supreme law of the country, and if Saara implies that Swapo is the alpha and omega, then Swapo never ruled nor respected the supreme law of the country. No wonder the country is in the state it is,” he said.

Meanwhile, Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge said his party is not an opposition party, but a government in waiting.

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighter (NEFF) legislator Longinus Iipumbu said it is unbelievable that Kuugongelwa-Amadhila would suggest that Swapo be kept in power until the return of Jesus.

“I wonder why a person of her calibre can actually say something like that? In actual fact, people are now clever, unlike the other times when they were shouting ‘viva, viva Swapo ‘,” he said.

Iipumbu, who is from the Okatana area, said it’s up to Namibians to judge and decide for themselves if they should keep Swapo in power indefinitely.

“Sustaining a party that protects corrupt activities, that does not have the people who liberated the country at heart. We need to ask ourselves and make sure we overthrow the leadership of Swapo.

“The continuation of the starvation of the people is because of those who are sitting in current positions of the administration of Swapo. Therefore, the utterances of the prime minister should be withdrawn,” he said.

He believes Kuugongelwa-Amadhila should apologise to Namibians for Swapo’s thieving tendencies and declared that Swapo is in power to embezzle state resources.

Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s utterances reveal her ambitions to contest for one of Swapo’s top four positions (president, vice president, secretary general or deputy secretary general).

Kamwanyah said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s statement also reveals the desperation within the party that it may suffer a huge blow come 2024, if it goes into the election divided.

“Swapo’s most important task before the 2024 election is to bring the party back together as a united front, and to get the youth’s support back. Failure will have dire consequences for the party’s political future,” he said.

However, political commentator Erika Thomas – a lecturer in the department of political and administrative studies at the University of Namibia, said she sees nothing wrong with what the prime minister said.

She said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is campaigning for her party and that is what politicians should do.

“Before she became prime minister, she was a Swapo member and she went to that celebration to market and sensitise that they are still running the show. I don ‘t see anything wrong with that statement. It’s up to the opposition to vigorously campaign for their political parties.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila asserted that Swapo improved the welfare of the Namibian people. She said since independence, the government has built clinics, roads, schools and electrified rural areas.

She said the government is busy with the construction of a road from Endola to Amutanga in the Okatana constituency.

She said the government decentralised institutions of higher learning, such as the Namibia University of Science and Technology and the University of Namibia.

She also urged the youth to consider vocational training centres when furthering their studies.