Swapo ousts newspaper editor

FORMER Namibia Today editor Asser Ntinda, who parted ways with the Swapo mouthpiece in December last year, has accused the leadership of frustrating him out of the job.

Ntinda has been the editor of Namibia Today, a weekly Swapo newspaper, since 1999.

In a letter dated 10 October 2018 to Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa, Ntinda demanded a two-year salary as a severance package.

understands that Swapo paid out Ntinda in December last year, about three years after the newspaper closed.

In the letter, seen by , Swapo’s former newspaper chief accused the Swapo leadership of working behind his back to remove him.

The party mouthpiece closed in 2015 on Ntinda’s recommendations to fix their operations, such as registering the newspaper as a company so that it could get a tax number.

Another task was to approach private companies to buy new computers for the party’s propaganda newspaper.

Ntinda said he completed that task six months later.

“In June 2015, I approached Swapo party to buy us computers. Swapo party flatly refused to give us money, or buy us computers. Lucky enough, when I approached Kalahari Holdings shortly afterwards, through Elijah Ngurare, who was a board member of Kalahari Holdings, he was quick to convince the board to buy such computers,” Ntinda explained.

The ruling party is widely known for running its business empire through Kalahari Holdings, whose portfolio includes 51% shares – estimated to be worth around N$250 million – in MultiChoice Namibia.

Ntinda said they received the computers and wrote letters to former party secretary for information Helmut Angula on when they can resume production, but he received no response.

“This puzzled me a bit, until I bumped into that interview in Namibian Sun where Angula revealed for the first time in public that the ‘leadership is busy looking for a young, energetic and more enlightened’ editor of Namibia Today, as if he is young himself,” Ntinda charged.

Angula told yesterday that he does not recall this incident, and would thus not comment.

Ntinda, however, believes that the party leadership was hell-bent on removing him by starving the newspaper of funding, and creating a hostile working environment for him.

“My employer and I are not in this messy situation because I have reneged on my responsibilities as editor of Namibia Today, but because my employer has created hostile work conditions for me,” he said.

He continued that “the top leadership is united against me. These are facts. And against facts, there are no arguments”.

Ntinda said the party leadership told him that they don’t want him to manage Swapo’s newspaper.

He said he responded that he also wants to part ways with the paper, but they will have to pay him out.

A person familiar with this matter said Ntinda was paid a salary while the newspaper was closed since 2015, until he reached a deal with the party in December last year.

Ntinda said he would not step down until the ruling party meets his demands, such as 24 months’ salary calculated from 1 October 2018 to 1 October 2020 when he is due to retire.

Other demands Ntinda made included an additional 20 weeks’ salary package, leave days and other payouts.

Ntinda declined to comment on the matter.

“I do not comment on issues that were discussed and resolved behind closed doors. That is up to Swapo to reveal. But I can confirm that 31 December 2018 was my last month as editor of Namibia Today,” Ntinda told yesterday.

Shaningwa did not answer questions sent to her on Sunday.

Ntinda enjoyed proximity to power when he was editor of the party’s newspaper. He also served on top parastatal boards such as MTC and the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia.

He often used the party paper to attack The Namibian, an entity he sued for N$500 000, but he lost that case in 2013.

Ntinda was seen as siding with Geingob’s opponents for the party’s leadership.