{"id":29605,"date":"2022-09-16T15:37:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T15:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab"},"modified":"2022-09-16T16:14:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T16:14:10","slug":"helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab","title":{"rendered":"Helmut amendments sidelining a \u2018power grab\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>The dust refuses to settle over the interpretation of the Swapo rules that hogged the headlines in the run up to the nominations for the party\u2019s top positions. The father of the Helmut amendments has now called its circumvention a power grab. The infamous \u2018Helmut amendments\u2019, which sparked controversy within Swapo as they appeared to have limited prospective candidates\u2019 chances of contesting for the top four positions in Swapo, have again raised eyebrows among the party members after it was bypassed \u2018overnight\u2019.<\/p>\n

Some members of the ruling party questioned the rationale of setting aside the amendments a month before the congress.<\/p>\n

The Helmut amendments, as they are now known, allow only individuals who have been members of the party for a minimum of 20 years and \u201cpersistently and consistently\u201d been members of the CC to run for the party\u2019s top positions. The alterations to Swapo\u2019s constitution were drafted by stalwart Helmut Angula.<\/p>\n

After the Swapo Central Committee (CC) meeting, held in Windhoek last week, it appeared that the amendments only affect those who joined the ruling party after 2018, when its constitution was amended. This prompted those with ambitions to contest for the vice presidency position a new leash to stand a chance at the much-talked-about congress in November. This included Frans Kapofi, who quit the race on Wednesday, mines minister Tom Alweendo and backbencher Tobie Aupindi who lost the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese amendments have been banned and violated. It is against the constitution,\u201d said former Swapo think tank member and long-serving member, Ben Mulongeni. Mulongeni has in the past called the amendments \u201cidiotic\u201d. Questioned why he is suddenly irked by a decision to ignore them, which is what he initially wanted, the highly opinionated member said, \u201cI will still call them idiotic because they are not inclusive. I am not saying I am finally speaking for the amendments. I am questioning the agenda behind them being bypassed unconstitutionally. These amendments could have been repealed even three months ago. Why do the right thing wrongly when you could have done the right thing, right?\u201d Earlier this year, there have been strong calls to amend the Swapo constitution rules.<\/p>\n

Presidential hopefuls Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila were said to be at the forefront of blocking<\/p>\n

discussions about amendments to the ruling<\/p>\n

party\u2019s constitution at the central committee level.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a mobilisation event in the Oshana region in June this year, Nandi-Ndaitwah warned members against shortcuts. She implored members to have a full understanding of the party\u2019s constitution and follow its guidelines. \u201cIt is the shortcuts that bring a lot of chaos,\u201d she said. Mulongeni suggested the party could have called for a Swapo extraordinary congress as is required by the constitution. \u201cThe CC meeting has no mandate to waive the amendments. If they could have reamended them on the right platform, then we will not question the motive behind the president\u2019s decision to push Kapofi and Shifeta in the race. We are questioning the agenda,\u201d Mulongeni complained. \u201cIf you wanted your boys to be qualified, you could have done it a few months before the CC meeting and change the amendments.\u201d He thus added that the \u201cwheelbarrowing\u201d of candidates into a race they do not qualify for has compromised the integrity, competence, and quality of these people who were allowed to enter the race through the violation of the constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not be happy to be nominated through the violation of the constitution because that is being assisted to be wheelbarrowed in the race when you do not qualify, according to the constitution,\u201d he added. Echoing the same sentiments as Mulongeni, Swapo veteran Angula who proposed the amendments and was also at the forefront of implementing them, said the decision to allow members who do not qualify to contest for the party\u2019s presidency is \u201cIllegal and unconstitutional\u201d. He said, \u201cYou cannot just decide to go against the constitution because you have power.\u201d Angula said there are provisions to which these amendments could have been amended. \u201cThey could have been amended three months before the congress. They were also adopted by the Swapo party extraordinary congress, and it can only be the Swapo party extraordinary congress or the Swapo elective congress to amend them,\u201d he stressed. \u201cI do not know if people do not read, or they just do things because of power. We are guided by the constitution, and it is what binds us together. If you ignore the constitution, history will judge you,\u201d he added. He added that the amendments were meant to prevent the party from being captured by so-called chance takers.<\/p>\n

Angula said, \u201cThere are various provisions in the constitution that could have allowed them. Civil servants, army, and police generals had a choice to be nominated a long time ago. Why wait until the last minute? The appointing officer also could have nominated them to be delegates at the Congress.\u201d Attempts to get a comment from the party\u2019s spokesperson Hilma Nicanor proved futile as her phone rang unanswered.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. The dust refuses to settle over the interpretation of the Swapo rules that hogged the headlines in the run up to the nominations for the party\u2019s top positions. The father of the Helmut amendments has now called its circumvention a power grab. The infamous \u2018Helmut amendments\u2019, which sparked controversy within Swapo as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":29604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,10,12,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-29605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-parties","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nHelmut amendments sidelining a \u2018power grab\u2019 - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The dust refuses to settle over the interpretation of the Swapo rules that hogged the headlines in the run up to the nom ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Helmut amendments sidelining a \u2018power grab\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The dust refuses to settle over the interpretation of the Swapo rules that hogged the headlines in the run up to the nom ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-16T15:37:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-16T16:14:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/09\/postQueueImg_2-6324a0bdf027c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"466\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Helmut amendments sidelining a \u2018power grab\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-16T15:37:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-16T16:14:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab\"},\"wordCount\":856,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/09\/postQueueImg_2-6324a0bdf027c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"parties\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/helmut-amendments-sidelining-a-power-grab\",\"name\":\"Helmut amendments sidelining a \u2018power grab\u2019 - 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