Africa-Press – Namibia. INDEPENDENT Patriots for Change general secretary Christine Aochamus says her party will not refrain from taking unpopular decisions against members implicated in unethical activities to suit individuals.
IPC came under heavy criticism from the public over the last couple of months owing to the way the party has been conducting its affairs. However, Aochamus said the party’s leadership is not apologetic about the way it has been doing things, particularly after it restrained Swakopmund constituency councillor Ciske Smith-Howard.
“Change is painful and for us to see that there is change happening in the country, we need to do things differently and take unpopular decisions. If what we do was done before, we would not be where we are as a country. They say the first sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome,” Aochamus said.
Smith-Howard is accused of allegedly lying about her original place of residence to qualify her to contest in the regional council elections last year.
Critics say if IPC continues doing things the same way, the party could be facing a challenge to keep members and could struggle to retain its identity if it loses founding leader Panduleni Itula.
This is largely based on the fact that the current leaders of IPC, apart from Itula, hardly get involved in any serious debate that really shows the public their thinking independent of Itula’s ideas.
Itula has been widely criticised for his unilateral approach to leadership. ZERO TOLERANCE IS GOOD Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah said the party’s leadership approach of zero tolerance to unethical conduct by its councillors is good.
“Namibians have been complaining that political parties, especially Swapo, do not act when their members are involved in unethical conduct, but now that we have a political party that is acting, people are now talking against it. We may not like the manner [in which] it is done, especially when there are allegations that Itula acts unilaterally, but I think the party is doing what it is supposed to do,” he said.
Kamwanyah said political parties must not shy away from taking unpopular decisions against members who are implicated in unethical activities for fear of losing support.
“Office bearers voted through the party are entrusted with the responsibility to make sure that they serve the people. If those people are misconducting themselves, certainly it affects the people’s interests. The party must act on behalf of the people to ensure that those involved in unethical conduct are held to account,” Kamwanyah said.
Kamwanyah said the IPC leadership must, however, be more transparent with the decisions it takes to avoid the public guessing. RACIAL DIVIDE Following the fallout with Smith-Howard, IPC also came under public scrutiny, with many questioning whether the party’s racially diverse membership was truly united.
After she was restrained, Smith-Howard organised a meeting with supposedly IPC members at Swakopmund to vent her frustration with the party’s leadership. That meeting was largely attended by members who are predominantly white. IPC insiders believe the racial division among members could prove problematic for the party’s leadership to maintain cohesion among members.
The party’s administrator, Aochamus, denied claims that the Swakopmund meeting was a demonstration of racial division in the party. She said the party is still investigating to establish whether the Swakopmund gathering was a branch meeting or “a meeting of friends of patriot Smith-Howard”.
“IPC will never be founded on the basis of race. We are not bothered by who you are and where you are coming from. The party is really for those who identify as Namibians… why is there no outcry when we have a meeting that is attended by members who are predominantly black? The same contrast should be drawn,” she said.
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