Pohamba revives Angula’s political career

IN what is widely seen as another attempt by President Hifikepunye Pohamba to revive the political career of Helmut Angula, the veteran politician and finance minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila were yesterday named as his two preferred members to be in the politburo.

IN what is widely seen as another attempt by President Hifikepunye Pohamba to revive the political career of Helmut Angula, the veteran politician and finance minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila were yesterday named as his two preferred members to be in the politburo.

The announcement was made by Swapo Secretary General Nangolo Mbumba at a media briefing held at the party headquarters in Windhoek yesterday.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila failed to secure a seat in the politburo at the end of last year after the elective congress while Angula, a director of various private companies, re-emerged into the current central committee after missing out on the 2009 party list.

Considered one of his favourite veteran politicians, Pohamba appointed Angula as the director general of the National Planning Commission in March 2005.

The inclusion of the finance minister in the politburo might be seen as injecting young blood into the politburo while others see it as a gender-based move aimed at balancing representation in the top structure of the party.

Mbumba said the clause that gives the president the mandate to appoint two additional politburo members was necessary to give him the flexibility to add members as elections do not necessary give him that option.

“In this case, you can’t question his judgment in terms of the people he has appointed,” he said.

The politburo also announced the party’s eight-member disciplinary committee headed by former secretary general Ngarikutuke Tjiriange who is deputised by former health minister Libertina Amathila.

The other six members of the committee are Speaker of the National Assembly Theo Ben Gurirab, former minister Willem Konjore, trade unionist Connie Pandeni, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Doreen Sioka, deputy Minister of Justice Tommy Nambahu and National Council member Germina Shitaleni.

The committee has a 50/50 gender representation.

Mbumba said the necessity of the disciplinary committee was overdue because of the size of the party.

He admitted that conflicts or misunderstandings in the party arise because of various reasons such as personality clashes and party cadres’ attitudes. Mbumba said it is better that the task of solving disputes has now been given to the committee because it is comprised of senior people from various background.

The party has been rocked by several disciplinary cases in the past year, among them the never ending squabbles in Grootfontein, which prompted the party to send a delegation of elders to solve the infighting in that town.

The party’s youth wing was also subjected to a disciplinary hearing in June this year after some members complained that the body was undermining the elders.