Amupanda halts Swapo membership fee

Social welfare activist Job Amupanda is not a Swapo member in good standing.The academic confirmed he stopped paying his Swapo membership fees due to the 'confusing' state in which the ruling party currently finds itself in.He hinted he would start paying his dues again once the party has cleared its 'mess'. Speaking to Namibian Sun's The Evening Review show last Friday, Amupanda confirmed still being a Swapo member, but insisted he no longer pays his membership fee.His status in the party has been under scrutiny in recent years, punctuated by his support of independent candidates who stood against official party candidates, including dentist Panduleni Itula who last year challenged party president Hage Geingob in the national presidential election.The contest saw Geingob's votes declining sharply to 56% compared to the 87% attained in 2014, while Swapo lost its two-thirds majority for the first time since 1994. Asked whether he still remains a Swapo member, Amupanda responded affirmatively. “I am a Swapo member but Swapo is not central to my decisions and discourse,” he said.“I am very angry at Swapo. How can a ruling party not have youth under the age of 35 on its parliamentary list? Even if Geingob tries to rectify this during his nomination of eight MPs, they would still be non-voting members who cannot influence any serious decisions in parliament,” he said. Expelled from the party alongside three others in 2015 before being reinstated following a court order, the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader says principles are being applied inconsistently in the party. To drive his point home, Amupanda cited how the party recalled Fishrot suspects Sacky Shanghala and Bernhardt Esau from parliament, while keeping those convicted of corruption in the National Assembly. Currently in jail while awaiting trial over alleged briberies to the tune of N$150 million in exchange for fishing quotas, Shanghala and Esau were also removed from the Swapo list for the upcoming parliament due to the serious nature of the allegations against them.“Nobody in Swapo currently knows what is going on – from the president to a person in the village,” Amupanda said.“In the politburo, there are guys who are accused – they have not been found guilty – of corruption but the guys who are convicted of corruption are the ones deciding who should be removed from the parliamentary list. In other words, the graduates of corruption are the ones deciding that 'this one must not come to parliament'. On this account, why would you want Swapo members, in good conscience, to somehow account for their activities on Facebook compared to one who changed the law leading to thousands of job losses? Unless this is addressed, no one should be harassed for their [individual] activities,” Amupanda said. Calls have heightened within Swapo to oust Amupanda from the former liberation movement mostly because of his perceived role the independent candidate phenomenon that has taken the country by storm. In January, Swapo lost the Walvis Bay Urban constituency to independent candidate Knowledge Iipinge, himself a Swapo member who received backing from Amupanda during his campaign trail.Amupanda also backed independent candidates in Ondangwa Urban and Oshakati East constituencies, where Swapo won. Pressed on why he backed candidates who stood against his own party's official candidates, the activist said: “I express my views on independent candidates, but I have never signed any form for anyone to contest as an independent candidate.”On possible expulsion, he said: “When you want to expel a person, there is a legal process to be followed. You have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that I've fielded a candidate. Let them bring it on.”

Amupanda halts Swapo membership fee

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

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Amupanda halts Swapo membership fee

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

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