'Spineless' Unam flip-flops on political campus activities
The University of Namibia (Unam) has been accused of bias after banning political activities on its campuses in April while allowing the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) to hold a series of uninterrupted political events on its main campus on Friday, including a march.
The university issued a formal prohibition on all political activities on campus in April, a move seen at the time as an attempt to disrupt an event of the Affirmative Repositioning Students Command (ARSC), where Affirmative Repositioning chief activist and Job Amupanda was set to speak.
Although the ARSC initially tried to defy the ban, a strong presence of security officers at the venue forced the organisers to call off the event.
At the time, the ban, formally issued by the university’s pro vice-chancellor for finance and administration, Ellen Namhila, was roundly condemned by the university's academic staff, who warned Namhila to “refrain from turning a once prestigious university into a 'Mickey Mouse' institution that glorifies and embraces intellectual docility”.
Those who slammed the directive included Amupanda and fellow Unam academics Rui Tyitende, Dr Ellison Tjirera, Professor Lesley Blaauw, law lecturer Dr John Nakuta and school of humanities lecturer Dr Basilius Kasera. They branded the directive as "unconstitutional".
Investigating
On Friday, Unam confirmed to Namibian Sun that the ban remains firmly in place. However, SPYL activities still proceeded at the main campus in Windhoek.
On the same day, the university allegedly blocked an event organised by the Unam Political Science Society where Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament Inna Hengari was among the scheduled speakers.
Hengari confirmed to Namibian Sun yesterday that the event she was scheduled to speak at had been "postponed".
In June, during a parliamentary session, Hengari questioned how the university balances its responsibility to provide an environment conducive to academic freedom and critical discourse with the need to maintain neutrality in political matters, without restricting or limiting political activities on campus.
Unam spokesperson Simon Namesho confirmed that the university is investigating SPYL's breach of the ban. "This incident was brought to the attention of the directorate of student affairs, and the society concerned [SPYL] was requested to come in for an enquiry," he said Friday.
The SPYL activities were allegedly spearheaded by, among others, Fenny Tutjavi, the Unam Student Representative Council (SRC) secretary general who made national headlines last week after being appointed to the Swapo National Assembly list by party vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
‘Flip-floppers’
The Landless People's Movement (LPM) Youth Command, in a statement on Friday, criticised the Unam management as "spineless flip-floppers" who displayed "political bias" in favour of Swapo.
"This group of compromised, spineless flip-floppers has once again shamelessly demonstrated their loyalty to Swapo at the expense of the very principles of academic freedom and political engagement they are supposed to uphold," the command said.
"This year, in a pathetic display of subservience, they halted all political activities across Unam campuses, yet still bent over backward to accommodate the Swapo Party Youth League, allowing them to conduct a mobilisation campaign on campus, violating their ban on political activities."
The command's spokesperson, William Minnie, accused Unam of being "hopelessly captured and suffocated" in its desperation to curry political favours from Swapo and of being incapable of fostering politically conscious, critically minded students.
"Unam's failure to produce an environment of intellectual and political freedom is a reflection of the stranglehold Swapo has on leadership, a leadership that has no interest in transformation or progress, but only in advancing their ambitions within Swapo's corrupt system," he said.
The LPM Youth Command has demanded that the ban be lifted with immediate effect and said it will host a political drive on campus today.
The university issued a formal prohibition on all political activities on campus in April, a move seen at the time as an attempt to disrupt an event of the Affirmative Repositioning Students Command (ARSC), where Affirmative Repositioning chief activist and Job Amupanda was set to speak.
Although the ARSC initially tried to defy the ban, a strong presence of security officers at the venue forced the organisers to call off the event.
At the time, the ban, formally issued by the university’s pro vice-chancellor for finance and administration, Ellen Namhila, was roundly condemned by the university's academic staff, who warned Namhila to “refrain from turning a once prestigious university into a 'Mickey Mouse' institution that glorifies and embraces intellectual docility”.
Those who slammed the directive included Amupanda and fellow Unam academics Rui Tyitende, Dr Ellison Tjirera, Professor Lesley Blaauw, law lecturer Dr John Nakuta and school of humanities lecturer Dr Basilius Kasera. They branded the directive as "unconstitutional".
Investigating
On Friday, Unam confirmed to Namibian Sun that the ban remains firmly in place. However, SPYL activities still proceeded at the main campus in Windhoek.
On the same day, the university allegedly blocked an event organised by the Unam Political Science Society where Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament Inna Hengari was among the scheduled speakers.
Hengari confirmed to Namibian Sun yesterday that the event she was scheduled to speak at had been "postponed".
In June, during a parliamentary session, Hengari questioned how the university balances its responsibility to provide an environment conducive to academic freedom and critical discourse with the need to maintain neutrality in political matters, without restricting or limiting political activities on campus.
Unam spokesperson Simon Namesho confirmed that the university is investigating SPYL's breach of the ban. "This incident was brought to the attention of the directorate of student affairs, and the society concerned [SPYL] was requested to come in for an enquiry," he said Friday.
The SPYL activities were allegedly spearheaded by, among others, Fenny Tutjavi, the Unam Student Representative Council (SRC) secretary general who made national headlines last week after being appointed to the Swapo National Assembly list by party vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
‘Flip-floppers’
The Landless People's Movement (LPM) Youth Command, in a statement on Friday, criticised the Unam management as "spineless flip-floppers" who displayed "political bias" in favour of Swapo.
"This group of compromised, spineless flip-floppers has once again shamelessly demonstrated their loyalty to Swapo at the expense of the very principles of academic freedom and political engagement they are supposed to uphold," the command said.
"This year, in a pathetic display of subservience, they halted all political activities across Unam campuses, yet still bent over backward to accommodate the Swapo Party Youth League, allowing them to conduct a mobilisation campaign on campus, violating their ban on political activities."
The command's spokesperson, William Minnie, accused Unam of being "hopelessly captured and suffocated" in its desperation to curry political favours from Swapo and of being incapable of fostering politically conscious, critically minded students.
"Unam's failure to produce an environment of intellectual and political freedom is a reflection of the stranglehold Swapo has on leadership, a leadership that has no interest in transformation or progress, but only in advancing their ambitions within Swapo's corrupt system," he said.
The LPM Youth Command has demanded that the ban be lifted with immediate effect and said it will host a political drive on campus today.
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