{"id":35028,"date":"2022-11-30T16:59:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T16:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections"},"modified":"2022-11-30T17:25:53","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T17:25:53","slug":"opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections","title":{"rendered":"Opposition threatens to boycott Katima council elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>OPPOSITION parties in the Katima Mulilo Town Council (KMTC) are threatening to boycott the electoral process tomorrow if there is no rotation of strategic council positions.<\/p>\n

Lister Shamalaza was elected as Katima Mulilo mayor in 2020, with Christina Simanga as deputy mayor, and John Ntemwa elected as chairperson of the management committee.<\/p>\n

These councillors are on Swapo’s ticket, and were re-elected last year.<\/p>\n

Swapo currently has the majority of seats in the council, while the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), National Democratic Party (NDP), and the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) each have one seat.<\/p>\n

Officials from the respective opposition parties yesterday said for proper development to take place at the town, a change of leadership is needed \u2013 especially regarding the positions of mayor, deputy mayor, and chairperson of the management committee.<\/p>\n

Hence, opposition councillors should also be granted the opportunity to serve in key positions, they said.<\/p>\n

IPC councillor Charles Musiyalike said: \u201cThere is no provision in the Local Authorities Act that provides for one-sided political majority nomination for the key political office-bearer positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing elected to these key positions does not mean you will be automatically re-elected every year, like the current trend at the Katima Mulilo Town Council, which is ultra vires in terms of the principle of law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know for sure that corruption and disregarding the rule of law have always been the order of the day under the current regime. Holding multiple portfolios has never been considered a potential conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

PDM regional coordinator Geoffrey Mwilima said it is time for the town council to realise the key positions are not meant for the majority party only \u2013 hence the need for a rotational system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not a secret, we will boycott the electoral process if need be, since these strategic positions in the council need competent councillors to bring change to our town,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs things stand, everything about the KMTC council has gone down the drain, and corruption is the order of the day, involving even the councillors and town administrators themselves.<\/p>\n

NDP councillor Watson Kalaluka said they are expecting a special council meeting with the Swapo councillors in the next two days, and if they are not in agreement with the rotation of leadership, the opposition will \u201cmost definitely\u201d boycott the upcoming elective process slated for tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Questions sent to Shamalaza yesterday went unanswered.<\/p>\n

Lister Shamalaza was elected as Katima Mulilo mayor in 2020, with Christina Simanga as deputy mayor, and John Ntemwa elected as chairperson of the management committee.<\/p>\n

These councillors are on Swapo’s ticket, and were re-elected last year.<\/p>\n

Swapo currently has the majority of seats in the council, while the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), National Democratic Party (NDP), and the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) each have one seat.<\/p>\n

Officials from the respective opposition parties yesterday said for proper development to take place at the town, a change of leadership is needed \u2013 especially regarding the positions of mayor, deputy mayor, and chairperson of the management committee.<\/p>\n

Hence, opposition councillors should also be granted the opportunity to serve in key positions, they said.<\/p>\n

IPC councillor Charles Musiyalike said: \u201cThere is no provision in the Local Authorities Act that provides for one-sided political majority nomination for the key political office-bearer positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing elected to these key positions does not mean you will be automatically re-elected every year, like the current trend at the Katima Mulilo Town Council, which is ultra vires in terms of the principle of law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know for sure that corruption and disregarding the rule of law have always been the order of the day under the current regime. Holding multiple portfolios has never been considered a potential conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

PDM regional coordinator Geoffrey Mwilima said it is time for the town council to realise the key positions are not meant for the majority party only \u2013 hence the need for a rotational system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not a secret, we will boycott the electoral process if need be, since these strategic positions in the council need competent councillors to bring change to our town,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs things stand, everything about the KMTC council has gone down the drain, and corruption is the order of the day, involving even the councillors and town administrators themselves.<\/p>\n

NDP councillor Watson Kalaluka said they are expecting a special council meeting with the Swapo councillors in the next two days, and if they are not in agreement with the rotation of leadership, the opposition will \u201cmost definitely\u201d boycott the upcoming elective process slated for tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Questions sent to Shamalaza yesterday went 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. OPPOSITION parties in the Katima Mulilo Town Council (KMTC) are threatening to boycott the electoral process tomorrow if there is no rotation of strategic council positions. Lister Shamalaza was elected as Katima Mulilo mayor in 2020, with Christina Simanga as deputy mayor, and John Ntemwa elected as chairperson of the management committee. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-35028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nOpposition threatens to boycott Katima council elections - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"OPPOSITION parties in the Katima Mulilo Town Council (KMTC) are threatening to boycott the electoral process tomorrow if ...\" \/>\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\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opposition threatens to boycott Katima council elections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OPPOSITION parties in the Katima Mulilo Town Council (KMTC) are threatening to boycott the electoral process tomorrow if ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections\" \/>\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=\"2022-11-30T16:59:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-30T17:25:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_1669814957.19.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\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\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Opposition threatens to boycott Katima council elections\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-30T16:59:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-30T17:25:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections\"},\"wordCount\":781,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_1669814957.19.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/opposition-threatens-to-boycott-katima-council-elections\",\"name\":\"Opposition threatens to boycott Katima council elections - 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