Two powerful Swapo factions within the party’s Grootfontein structures seem to be fighting for control.
This is the latest chapter in an extended fight for the soul of Swapo at the town, a fight that dates back over two decades, characterised by plots, twists and veteran A fresh battle is brewing in Swapo’s long-running factional wars at Grootfontein, sparked by the controversial re-emergence of former town councillor Jack Tsanigab on the party’s list for this year’s local authority elections.
Tsanigab was allegedly ‘illegally’ added to the list midway through the elimination process to make the final submission to the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
His detractors have told The Issue that his name was not on the list of 14 Grootfontein district executives submitted to Swapo’s headquarters for vetting.
Another bone of contention is his 2020 arrest over alleged corruption.
Tsanigab was not always the ‘villain’ in Swapo’s factional Grootfontein battles. In 2010, his supporters cried foul after he was relegated from number two on the party’s local authority list to number seven, making his chances of serving his people on the seven-seat council almost impossible. He was deemed a ‘son of the soil’ and the Grootfontein people’s choice.
The Issue has learnt that Tsanigab’s inclusion on the list could be the catalyst for the current deadlock, representing a bigger power struggle within the party ranks. Fingers are mainly being pointed at the party secretary general, who is being accused of consolidating power, allegedly with the ultimate aim of being able to control the outcome of the 2027 Swapo elective congress.
NO TAMING THE TOWN
Players all fighting to run the town.
Grootfontein is a relatively small farming town with about 29 000 inhabitants. Economically, the town is supported by surrounding farms, and its second-largest employer is the country’s key military base, known as the army headquarters.
The town’s internal politics have been shaky since 2004. The volatility seems to reflect wider power struggles within the ruling party.
For 21 years, the Swapo Grootfontein district and other structures have not enjoyed peace. So problematic has it been that the last four party secretary generals, Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Nangolo Mbumba, and currently Sophia Shaningwa, couldn’t tame Grootfontein.
The town’s troubles have been endured by Sam Nujoma, Hifikepunye Pohamba, Hage Geingob and now Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as party presidents.
TWO SONS OF GROOTFONTEIN
At the centre of the current impasse are Grootfontein Swapo district treasurer and businessman Josef Andreas, and member of parliament Elder Filipe. Both men are seen by their respective factions as the ‘prince’ of the town.
Andreas and Filipe were in the same Grootfontein High School’s matriculation class of 2002, but now find themselves at opposite ends in the battle for Swapo in the town.
Filipe, until 21 March this year, served as the Grootfontein constituency regional councillor. He went into active politics after 2013 with a mission to bring about change, after witnessing factional battles sidelining capable people, simply because they were not aligned with the dominant factions within the party.
A case in point was the 2013 manoeuvre, which saw a nurse and community leader replaced by a cleaner who eventually ran as Swapo’s candidate in a by-election for the Grootfontein constituency regional councilor.
Seven years later, Filipe was elected as the regional councillor.
Andreas is a businessman with strong ties to the ruling party’s top leaders and serves on the board of several of its companies, and on the board of parastatals like Meatco. The Issue has reported that Andreas is a close lieutenant of both President Nandi-Ndaitwah and party secretary general Sophia Shaningwa.
It was also reported that Andreas is so influential that he had a hand in the president’s decision on who to appoint to the Cabinet.
Shaningwa allegedly circumvented party rules and election procedures in a move to appease both factions, which has caused division in the party’s Grootfontein structures. Some have accused the secretary general of a power play to strengthen Andreas’ influence.
This did not go down well with neutral Swapo members.
Some have told The Issue that the current fight started with the process of nominating a candidate for the by-election after Filipe vacated his regional council position to join parliament.
Complaints were again raised about how Nelao Amagulu was chosen to represent the party in the by-election.
As a result of these complaints, Nandi-Ndaitwah met with the Grootfontein leadership at the end of May. Members said she promised that a workshop on the party’s election rules and procedures would follow around 5 July, after the by-elections were concluded.
The workshop was to be conducted by party school representatives to help those in the party structures in the town acquaint themselves with the Swapo’s constitution and election rules, but it never took place.
July came, and the primaries for the local authority election nominations started. The Issue understands the process first produced 33 names, which had to be reduced to 14. The list was then sent to the party secretariat in Windhoek, through the regional office, for vetting.
On 2 September, the district executive at the town was notified that all 14 candidates passed vetting and were eligible to stand in the local authority elections. The district executive now had to shrink the list to seven. The next day, district coordinator James Shipunda, however, allegedly verbally notified the leadership at the town that he got verbal instructions to stop the process and that the list of 14 was nullified.
Shipunda this week declined to comment on party affairs, directing The Issue to the party’s regional leadership.
On 29 September, politburo member Alpheus !Naruseb led a delegation to find a solution and ensure that the party had a list of names to submit to the ECN for the elections.
!Naruseb, two weeks ago, told The Issue his role was to convey the message that the party was to avoid missing the deadline. He said he did not participate in the process, but rather allowed the district executive to provide him with a list of 14 names.
“I did not go and coerce anyone,” he said.
Members at the meeting accused !Naruseb of giving in to the demands of the faction, demanding a whole new list consisting of seven members from the Andreas-led faction, and the other seven from the Filipe faction.
The Filipe faction was not allowed to come up with its list of seven.
The Issue understands that the Andreas-led faction had performed poorly on the initial list of 14, which was allegedly drafted following the right procedures and the party’s constitution.
The party hierarchy allegedly then forced the district leadership to reduce the list to seven names. This was said to be done to accommodate a list of seven names produced by the Andreas-led faction. Drafting this list allegedly did not comply with the party’s constitutional processes.
TWO SWAPOS
“The national leaders at the meeting said this was the best method since Grootfontein has two Swapos: one for Andreas and another for Filipe,” said a member who was present at the meeting.
!Naruseb, however, denied this version and said the people of Grootfontein know their problems and therefore gave their problems names.
Members of the structures expressed unhappiness and were again told that former party mobilisation secretary and deputy defence minister Hilma Nicanor would lead a fact-finding mission from 5 to 12 October. That never happened.
Nicanor did not respond to a request for comment two weeks ago.
Shaningwa held a meeting with the town’s structures early this month, but those present left disappointed and accused the secretary general (SG) of adding names to the list and imposing a final list dominated by members of Andreas’ faction who were not subjected to the elimination process.
“At the meeting, the SG informed us she will not entertain questions,” one of the delegates who attended the meeting says. The delegate said Shaningwa imposed a list on the district and then informed those on the list that the party needs them to campaign.
“Then she instructed us to hold hands and unite,” the delegate says.
Andreas, said: “My only purpose is to unify the party.”
He denied the existence of two Swapos in the town but confirmed that the party has been plagued by historic factional fights at Grootfontein.
Andreas said he has been in support of the president’s directive to bring about party unity. He denied being involved in factional fights.
Filipe also denied being involved in factional fights, but confirmed that he was fighting for the party’s constitution.
“I am just calling for the party constitution, rules, and procedures to be followed,” he said.
He added that district conferences and internal election processes serve to maintain unity and order in the party.
Shaningwa did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
