Africa-Press – Namibia. MEMBERS of the newly elected Swapo Party Women’s Council (SPWC) central committee refuted claims that the wing is dormant. The women’s wing held its eighth elective congress over the weekend during which former deputy secretary general Fransina Kahungu was elected as the organ’s leader.
Maria Ntusi, who hails from the Kavango West region, was elected as her deputy. The SPWC was formed in 1969 and was formally inaugurated as a wing of the party in 1976 to support the country’s liberation struggle.
During the liberation struggle, the women not only ran refugee camps, clinics, kindergartens and agricultural projects, but were also involved in combat. After independence, the wing was seen to be dormant as it has been quiet on national issues.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah this week said: “It has been toeing the Swapo line. We hope Fransina taking on the role will revive the structure and make it dynamic and come up with a concrete agenda that will see to it the wing is effective and active.”
He described the just-ended congress as “quiet without any controversies”. Kamwanyah said this is good for the party because it portrays it as unified.
“They should pat themselves on the backs that it took place without any major issues. If there were, they were not made public,” Kamwanyah said.
SPWC central committee member and former parliamentarian Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana yesterday said: “These issues are to ensure we don’t just exist on paper, but fulfil the expectations of the public and Swapo members. Not only for the women folk, but for the party, because we are the mothers.”
Iivula-Ithana said the wing plays an important role in the party, and she believes the new SPWC central committee members are women of substance who would not want to be associated with a dormant organisation.
The wing will pay attention to gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy, child neglect, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, she said. She said she was confident Kahungu would pronounce herself on the agenda.
Deputy minister of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare and member of the SPWC central committee Bernadette Jagger refuted claims that the wing has been dormant.
“We have our political programme as the women’s council, and there is nothing else but to obey what our political programme stands for. For those who say it was dormant, they can say so, but it was never dormant, because I have been a member of the SPWC central committee. This is my third term,” she said.
Although Jagger could not specify activities of the SPWC, she said she believes the organ has carried out all the resolutions set out at the 2016 congress.
“For the past five years, from 2016 to the past congress, we can rejoice in saying we have done so, although not all have been implemented 100%, but we are happy,” she said.
CONGRESS OUTCOME Former deputy minister of health Petrina Haingura was re-elected to the SPWC central committee during the congress. Kamwanyah said this may symbolise an end to the division between ‘Team Swapo’ and ‘Team Harambee’ that were observed during the 2015 Swapo congress.
“This means maybe the divisions as we know them are weakening and disappearing, and the party is starting to unify itself, healing and working towards the Swapo we know. But if its team Swapo consolidates itself, it will not be good for the party, because it deepens the division,” Kamwanyah said.
The congress was held online under the theme ‘Women Maximising Performance Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic’. It saw a total of 200 delegates meeting in Windhoek, and another 200 at Rundu and Ongwediva, respectively.
Salome Kambala from the Kavango West region also made it to the central committee, together with the deputy chairperson and constituency councillor of Rundu Urban, Victoria Kauma. They were joined by Christine Malwa and Angelika Kangayi from the Kavango East region.
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