Resignation threats rock IPC over MP list
Party says its conduct was above board
One IPC member has resigned and others are planning to follow suit over the secretive nature of the party's recent elective conference for its parliamentary candidates.
The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is bracing itself for possible resignations by members who question the manner the party’s candidates for parliament were chosen, including the fact that the number of votes each delegate received at the conference have not been revealed to date.
Namibian Sun can confirm that the resignation this week of Elias Ndemuweda, who served as IPC chairperson for the Fidel Castro branch in the Samora Machel constituency, is linked to discontent over the lack of transparency on how the party’s parliamentary candidates were chosen.
One of the pioneers and foot soldiers of IPC, Ndemuweda was announced yesterday as the newest member of the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF).
Namibian Sun can also confirm that last weekend a prominent IPC member from the Omusati Region intended to announce his return to Swapo at the ruling party’s rally at Outapi, but later elected not to do so publicly. Like Ndemuweda, the businessman is said to be disgruntled over the alleged lack of transparency over how IPC's parliamentary candidates were chosen.
IPC held its elective conference on 12 September, after which the delegates were asked to leave the conference venue and return the next day for the result announcement. When they returned the next day, delegates were asked whether they had any complaints about the manner the electoral process was conducted, before the list of candidates was read out.
“When they asked us if we had any objections, it was in front of the media. Obviously, no one could really say what they felt about the process in a situation like that. When no one objected, they started reading out the names, without any indication of how many votes each candidate got,” a party delegate told Namibian Sun.
“We don’t know how many votes the person that is listed as number one got. We don’t know how many votes the person who came 15th got... but we are just expected to accept the outcome and walk away.”
‘Crisis’ meetings
Namibian Sun understands that a series of ‘crisis’ meetings have been lined up for next week by party president Dr Panduleni Itula, who is said to have received numerous written complaints about how the elective conference was handled.
One of those scheduled to meet Itula is IPC acting constituency general secretary for Katima Rural constituency Martin Limbo, who in a recent scathing letter accused Itula of tribalism over how he picked his 10 nominees for parliament. It is understood that Itula will - on 18 October - provide feedback to all complaints raised.
Although transparency has been paraded as one of IPC’s cardinal pillars, the party continues to face accusations of being secretive, a narrative that reached fever pitch when the party refused to divulge the source of its fleet of vehicles unveiled in February. The failure to publicise how many votes each candidate got at the elective conference last month has only worsened this perception.
Doing things ‘differently’
Prominent lawyer and IPC member Dirk Conradie, who served as the returning officer at the elective conference, yesterday confirmed that the number of votes was not revealed because “IPC does things differently”.
He said there is no law dictating that parties should disclose how many votes their members got in internal elections. “What happened is that the election was done and it was finalised, it was reported and everyone was happy with the election. So if Swapo informs [its members of] how many votes someone got, does that mean that everybody must do what Swapo does? We do things differently. We have done the election,” he said.
Party spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge echoed Conradie’s sentiments, and asked whether IPC broke any law by concealing the number of votes its members received.
Nashinge - ranked 12th on the party list of parliamentary candidates - argued that the processes were explained to the delegates and all was done in a fair manner.
An IPC member countered: “Why was the number of votes gained at the branch and regional level elections revealed, but not at national level?”
Itula did not respond to questions sent to him by the time of going to print.
Namibian Sun can confirm that the resignation this week of Elias Ndemuweda, who served as IPC chairperson for the Fidel Castro branch in the Samora Machel constituency, is linked to discontent over the lack of transparency on how the party’s parliamentary candidates were chosen.
One of the pioneers and foot soldiers of IPC, Ndemuweda was announced yesterday as the newest member of the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF).
Namibian Sun can also confirm that last weekend a prominent IPC member from the Omusati Region intended to announce his return to Swapo at the ruling party’s rally at Outapi, but later elected not to do so publicly. Like Ndemuweda, the businessman is said to be disgruntled over the alleged lack of transparency over how IPC's parliamentary candidates were chosen.
IPC held its elective conference on 12 September, after which the delegates were asked to leave the conference venue and return the next day for the result announcement. When they returned the next day, delegates were asked whether they had any complaints about the manner the electoral process was conducted, before the list of candidates was read out.
“When they asked us if we had any objections, it was in front of the media. Obviously, no one could really say what they felt about the process in a situation like that. When no one objected, they started reading out the names, without any indication of how many votes each candidate got,” a party delegate told Namibian Sun.
“We don’t know how many votes the person that is listed as number one got. We don’t know how many votes the person who came 15th got... but we are just expected to accept the outcome and walk away.”
‘Crisis’ meetings
Namibian Sun understands that a series of ‘crisis’ meetings have been lined up for next week by party president Dr Panduleni Itula, who is said to have received numerous written complaints about how the elective conference was handled.
One of those scheduled to meet Itula is IPC acting constituency general secretary for Katima Rural constituency Martin Limbo, who in a recent scathing letter accused Itula of tribalism over how he picked his 10 nominees for parliament. It is understood that Itula will - on 18 October - provide feedback to all complaints raised.
Although transparency has been paraded as one of IPC’s cardinal pillars, the party continues to face accusations of being secretive, a narrative that reached fever pitch when the party refused to divulge the source of its fleet of vehicles unveiled in February. The failure to publicise how many votes each candidate got at the elective conference last month has only worsened this perception.
Doing things ‘differently’
Prominent lawyer and IPC member Dirk Conradie, who served as the returning officer at the elective conference, yesterday confirmed that the number of votes was not revealed because “IPC does things differently”.
He said there is no law dictating that parties should disclose how many votes their members got in internal elections. “What happened is that the election was done and it was finalised, it was reported and everyone was happy with the election. So if Swapo informs [its members of] how many votes someone got, does that mean that everybody must do what Swapo does? We do things differently. We have done the election,” he said.
Party spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge echoed Conradie’s sentiments, and asked whether IPC broke any law by concealing the number of votes its members received.
Nashinge - ranked 12th on the party list of parliamentary candidates - argued that the processes were explained to the delegates and all was done in a fair manner.
An IPC member countered: “Why was the number of votes gained at the branch and regional level elections revealed, but not at national level?”
Itula did not respond to questions sent to him by the time of going to print.
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