Africa-Press – Namibia. SWAPO Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary Ephraim Nekongo said the phenomenon of nominating candidates aspiring to contest for positions in the party from the floor, is new to the party.
SWAPO Party Youth League (SPYL) secretary Ephraim Nekongo said the phenomenon of nominating candidates aspiring to contest for positions in the party from the floor, is new to the party.
Speaking at the Swapo congress on Sunday at Ongwediva, Nekongo said Swapo does not have a history of nominating candidates from the floor to run for positions at congresses.
His comments came after some SPYL leaders wanted to nominate Willem Amutenya from the floor at the SPYL congress held at Ongwediva from Thursday to Sunday.
Amutenya was initially disqualified from contesting for the SPYL secretary position at the central committee meeting on Friday because he was allegedly nominated at a regional conference.
The nomination was reportedly not in line with rules and procedures, or the youth wing’s constitution.
According to Nekongo: “The process always starts from the politburo and central committee to congress. Where have we taken that? Why are we destroyed? Why do you want to destroy us? Leave us alone with your politics.
“Go to the congress, stand at the congress and be elected without causing division. Swapo needs cadres now to come and make sure that we mobilise the masses to run behind Swapo, not to destroy the Swapo party,” he said.
Nekongo said the youth are not divided but are being used, and said Swapo leaders should not pit the youth against each other to fight their battles.
“Leave us with your agenda and if you are going to contest for secretary, president, vice president or secretary general, leave us alone. Why do you want to destroy us? Leave us alone,” he said.
Nekongo urged party members to stop fighting each other and provide the necessary services to the public.
“Our people are hungry, our people need jobs, our people need potable water and our people need electricity. Our state hospitals are in a dilapidated situation, we must deal with these things. These things should be part of our discussions, instead of us causing division within the party.”
“Let us mobilise the Swapo party in order to ensure that it remains relevant at all times. Let us continue to engage and make sure that we solve the issues affecting our people,” said Nekongo.
However, former aspiring candidate for the SPYL secretary position, Willem Amutenya, said the party should not in any way entertain the rejection of nominations of candidates from the floor.
“It has various implications to the party, more especially that we are working with young people that are just coming into the party that need to have trust and love for the party, but you find young people being humiliated in such a manner, where they are denied the opportunity to contest for positions that they qualify for. It’s an attitude that should not be accepted,” Amutenya said.
The upper structures of the party, such as the politburo and the central committee, should look at the issue of nomination from the floor seriously to avoid disunity among all the structures of the party, he said.
Amutenya said the youth are agitated that their voices have not been heard.
-Additional reporting by Hileni Nembwaya
Speaking at the Swapo congress on Sunday at Ongwediva, Nekongo said Swapo does not have a history of nominating candidates from the floor to run for positions at congresses.
His comments came after some SPYL leaders wanted to nominate Willem Amutenya from the floor at the SPYL congress held at Ongwediva from Thursday to Sunday.
Amutenya was initially disqualified from contesting for the SPYL secretary position at the central committee meeting on Friday because he was allegedly nominated at a regional conference.
The nomination was reportedly not in line with rules and procedures, or the youth wing’s constitution.
According to Nekongo: “The process always starts from the politburo and central committee to congress. Where have we taken that? Why are we destroyed? Why do you want to destroy us? Leave us alone with your politics.
“Go to the congress, stand at the congress and be elected without causing division. Swapo needs cadres now to come and make sure that we mobilise the masses to run behind Swapo, not to destroy the Swapo party,” he said.
Nekongo said the youth are not divided but are being used, and said Swapo leaders should not pit the youth against each other to fight their battles.
“Leave us with your agenda and if you are going to contest for secretary, president, vice president or secretary general, leave us alone. Why do you want to destroy us? Leave us alone,” he said.
Nekongo urged party members to stop fighting each other and provide the necessary services to the public.
“Our people are hungry, our people need jobs, our people need potable water and our people need electricity. Our state hospitals are in a dilapidated situation, we must deal with these things. These things should be part of our discussions, instead of us causing division within the party.”
“Let us mobilise the Swapo party in order to ensure that it remains relevant at all times. Let us continue to engage and make sure that we solve the issues affecting our people,” said Nekongo.
However, former aspiring candidate for the SPYL secretary position, Willem Amutenya, said the party should not in any way entertain the rejection of nominations of candidates from the floor.
“It has various implications to the party, more especially that we are working with young people that are just coming into the party that need to have trust and love for the party, but you find young people being humiliated in such a manner, where they are denied the opportunity to contest for positions that they qualify for. It’s an attitude that should not be accepted,” Amutenya said.
The upper structures of the party, such as the politburo and the central committee, should look at the issue of nomination from the floor seriously to avoid disunity among all the structures of the party, he said.
Amutenya said the youth are agitated that their voices have not been heard.
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