{"id":35931,"date":"2022-12-14T18:06:19","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T18:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments"},"modified":"2022-12-14T18:18:36","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T18:18:36","slug":"questions-over-politburo-appointments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments","title":{"rendered":"Questions over politburo appointments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Political analysts have questioned President Hage Geingob\u2019s wisdom and seriousness in the fight against it, following his decision to appoint a corruption-convicted former minister and his lawyer to the Swapo politburo.<\/p>\n

Last week, Geingob appointed prominent lawyer Sisa Namandje and erstwhile education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa to the Swapo political bureau \u2013 the central committee\u2019s steering committee \u2013 as empowered by Article 13 of the party\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n

Namandje\u2019s dealings and his attempts to stop the Law Society from holding him accountable have raised more than just eyebrows. The High Court in August 2020 dismissed, with cost, the Law Society of Namibia\u2019s application for a search and seizure warrant, authorising it to inspect financial records at Sisa Namandje and Co Inc.<\/p>\n

The court at the time ruled the application was not properly and lawfully authorised. LSN took the decision after the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) brought to the attention of the Law Society their concerns about suspicious transactions involving Namandje\u2019s law firm\u2019s trust account they had picked up.<\/p>\n

The transactions in question involve amounts, including N$15 million, paid on 1 December 2015 from a State-owned fishing company, the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor), into Namandje\u2019s trust account.<\/p>\n

Money was paid out to various accounts, including to Gwashihwemwa Family Trust, where Swapo politician Armas Amukwiyu is a trustee. In the eyes of pundit Ndumba Kamwanyah, something is amiss about the two appointments.<\/p>\n

This is because Namandje\u2019s firm was allegedly used as a conduit for illicit proceeds in Namibia\u2019s biggest corruption scandal, Fishrot. It is Kamwanyah\u2019s fervent position that Geingob is not serious about weeding out corruption in Namibia.<\/p>\n

Geingob, however, prides himself as a staunch anti-corruption activist. \u201cBeing the President, Hage Geingob is the chief custodian for efforts to fight corruption in this country. Namandje\u2019s name cropped up in the major scandal this country has ever experienced, Fishrot,\u201d Kamwanyah said.<\/p>\n

He was quick to point out that Namandje has neither been convicted for graft nor formally charged. \u201cBut the fact that he was a person of interest to the Anti-Corruption Commission to the extent that they had to interview him, that itself is a big issue when it comes to these appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, his law firm was used to a lot of the Fishrot scandal\u2019s money. Of course, maybe there is no wrongdoing in that but this is also an issue in terms of public perception and fighting corruption,\u201d the analyst said.<\/p>\n

Kamwanyah continued: \u201cI am puzzled. What is the president\u2019s [Geingob] agenda and plans that he nominated and appointed Sisa for the central committee and immediately appointed him to the politburo?\u201d<\/p>\n

Namandje was unavailable for comment this week, citing a tight schedule. Hanse-Himarwa on the other hand was convicted of corruption in 2019 when it was found that she abused her office as Hardap governor when she altered a list of people who had been allocated government-subsidised housing at Mariental and to have two of her relatives added to the list.<\/p>\n

Late yesterday, Hanse-Himarwa hit back, saying, “I have been in CC all along and have been re elected for the fourth term. I’m now appointed by the president and will serve for the third consecutive term in PB.<\/p>\n

I was elected by fellow comrades to CC. What’s the fuss all about? Am I the only convict in CC and in PB? There are other convicts too. Why are they not questioning them? Are there senior convict and junior convicts?\u201d<\/p>\n

On his part, lawyer and political commentator Natjirikasorua Tjirera had mixed feelings about the two appointments. But Geingob, he said, rewards those loyal to him. \u201cThe appointment of both Namandje and Hanse-Himarwa is a clear sign that President Geingob is an adherent to loyalty politics. Appointing his lawyer to the politburo may be seen as a way of strengthening his grip on the central committee,\u201d the soft-spoken Tjirera said.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, however, he had reservations. \u201cFurther, the two presidential appointees have been mentioned in deals that are not pleasant. The problem I have with the appointment of Namandje is the fact that it may be perceived that he is going to be used to the president\u2019s advantage, as he is his lawyer. On the other hand, it may be argued that the appointment of Sisa is to provide the political bureau with first-hand legal advice for free. If that is the case, then maybe his appointment may be justified,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For Tjirera, Namandje is innocent until proven otherwise. Hanse-Himarwa is a different ball game altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cHanse-Himarwa was convicted by the High Court of this land and she exhausted all available remedies in law as far as her corruption conviction is concerned. She should not be allowed anywhere near decision-making in this country. The decision by the president to appoint her to that position is the clearest sign that president Geingob has no intention whatsoever to fight corruption. In fact, his message is very clear: \u2018go get convicted of corruption and I shall appoint you to the highest table where decisions are made\u2019. It is unfortunate but that is a clear sign to Namibians that they are on their own in the fight against corruption,\u201d Tjirera said candidly.<\/p>\n

Like his two counterparts, political analyst Rui Tyitende said much is expected from Geingob as the moral vanguard of the constitution of the republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, loyalty (especially a blind one) is the only currency that matters among the political elite. The appointment of those two individuals further erodes the image problem engulfing Swapo, and it will embolden the opposition parties in the upcoming 2024 national elections,\u201d Tyitende said.<\/p>\n

Shining… Newly appointed Swapo politburo member Katrina Hanse-Himarwa.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Namibia. Political analysts have questioned President Hage Geingob\u2019s wisdom and seriousness in the fight against it, following his decision to appoint a corruption-convicted former minister and his lawyer to the Swapo politburo. Last week, Geingob appointed prominent lawyer Sisa Namandje and erstwhile education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa to the Swapo political bureau \u2013 the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-35931","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":"\nQuestions over politburo appointments - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Political analysts have questioned President Hage Geingob\u2019s wisdom and seriousness in the fight against it, following hi ...\" \/>\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\/questions-over-politburo-appointments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Questions over politburo appointments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Political analysts have questioned President Hage Geingob\u2019s wisdom and seriousness in the fight against it, following hi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments\" \/>\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=\"2022-12-14T18:06:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-14T18:18:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1671028585.56.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"634\" \/>\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=\"5 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\/questions-over-politburo-appointments#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Questions over politburo appointments\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-14T18:06:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-14T18:18:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments\"},\"wordCount\":958,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1671028585.56.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\/questions-over-politburo-appointments#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/questions-over-politburo-appointments\",\"name\":\"Questions over politburo appointments - 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