Succession: Shouldn’t We Also Think Outside The Box

CANDIDATES have strategies to win the race in Swapo but do they have the strategies to run the country? And do they have the qualities of a leader the country needs?

These are but two of the most crucial questions that Swapo and any delegate to the congress later this year must ask before deciding on the presidential candidate.
Instead too much time and effort is wasted on personalities and character assassination and who will benefit through tenders or prepare the State for collective piracy if their candidate wins.
Even though Swapo was known as the traditional hope of the oppressed and there is a feeling among some of its members that others have no right to poke inquisitive noses into its affairs, ignoring what is going on in the party is as good as cutting the thread that holds the country together. Swapo is the ruling party since Independence and therefore everything it does matters to outsiders also.
With the debate on succession thus limited to the Politburo, Central Committee and the congress, it should be the sole business of everyone else who thinks they are obliged to have a say to use available platforms to try and influence party members on the type of candidate to be elected. It is only right to do so even though it is not written in stone that the Swapo candidate will become the next President of Namibia.
It is a fact that the majority of Namibia has relegated the responsibility of choosing that candidate to around 500 delegates at the congress.
As for now the names of the party’s Vice President Hage Geingob, Secretary General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Information Secretary Jerry Ekandjo, Prime Minister Nahas Angula and Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku are all being touted as candidates to take over the party leadership from President Hifikepunye Pohamba.
All of the above have had their share of time in Cabinet and should by now have shown their capabilities.
Since Independence Swapo has hammered home the message of peace and tranquility. In fact even though former President Sam Nujoma emphasised economic independence towards the latter years of his rule, and Pohamba (being the continuation of programmes) reiterated these words, Namibia now needs a manager as President.
The next President should be able to steer the ship with very clear aims and be able to mobilise Cabinet, top ministerial management as well as the private sector with clear economic goals.
It should be someone who will manage Cabinet in such a way that ministers must present regular reports on progress of programmes undertaken but when they fail to deliver, sideways reshuffling should not be the option.
They should know that even though there are traits of servanthood in their leader, such a person will not tolerate laziness, lack of honesty, and will not hesitate to fire those who fail to carry out plans.
It means someone who is willing to take unpopular decisions in the interest of the nation and not a politically well-connected elite group.
When the second term of President Pohamba started, we were told that he had given each minister a set of goals/targets to achieve. The mistake he made was that those targets remained confidential between him and the ministers.
If he had gone the transparent route of revealing each minister’s target, he would have been more empowered when taking steps against a non-performing Cabinet member.
As it is now, he can keep track of the delegated work, but who says that he is in fact doing that? How do we know that his non-performing ministers face his wrath? And what type of wrath is it that we don’t actually see?
Also, our next President should be someone who will not generalise targets but zoom in on them with short-term deadlines. Even though we have Vision 2030 as an overall goal, there are many short term solutions which can make it a success.
Only a seasoned navigator can steer the ship in that direction.
We have many candidates, some of them even outside the group I referred to earlier.
Therefore, if need be, the delegates must start to think outside the box.

Swapo Succession: Marching Left But Walking Right

IN Swapo not everything the party leaders say from the public podium is ‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. In many instances the word ‘party’ is used to achieve personal goals and also coerce members into a certain thinking or direction. Take, for instance, the decision taken by the party’s Politburo and rubber-stamped by the Central Committee that there should be a lid on the succession debate until ‘the party’ decides otherwise. It makes one wonder who ‘the party’ then is. Is the party the Politburo or is the party general membership at section, branch and regional level? It was decided that campaigning should not be allowed until ‘the party’ decides otherwise nearer to the congress. What that decision basically means is that ‘the party’ is the Politburo. It is the Politburo who decides when campaigning will start. But most importantly, it is also the Politburo which decides who should stand for election and in what position because the names will be first thrown in the hat at that level before being submitted to the Central Committee and later to the congress. It means that, first, someone who is not at Politburo level has almost a zero chance of being named as a candidate for a top four position. Not that I am arguing for a complete outsider as leader of the party but to point out the exclusiveness of the presidential race. Secondly, there has been no instance where the Politburo had invited nominations for the top four positions prior to deciding on the candidates. What it has done is to nominate and endorse them at Central Committee and congress level before elections take place. Therefore, the Politburo is in fact the ‘party’ which the leaders refer to when they talk about the succession debate, when people should start campaigning or who the candidates will be to stand for elections. I know that some will argue that the congress delegates still get a chance to nominate a candidate from the floor, but what chance does such a person have of being elected? When does such a person campaign? So the question really is whether it is truly a Swapo tradition, as many leaders claim, not to campaign before congress. To whose benefit is such a move? What impact, if any, do the continuous claims of availability of someone like Prime Minister Nahas Angula also have on the succession campaign? What about former minister Helmut Angula’s claim that the next president of Swapo must also come from the Tanganyika group? Am I wrong in concluding that the seniors in the party want the succession debate to continue on their terms and that they want to decide where and when it should be held? Is what is happening not to their advantage? Recently, my colleague Asser Ntinda wrote that “those who are pushing for a public debate on this crucial issue (of succession) outside (Swapo) Party’s structures are not necessarily members” and that it will be “a fatal mistake” if the party “plays into the hands of such elements” by discussing it publicly. According to him outsiders want to hijack the debate and should thus not be allowed to do it. Ntinda and many others in the party know that what happens in Swapo is of interest to Namibia because it is the ruling party. There is no way Namibians can pretend how Swapo runs its affairs has no effect on the country. In many things already our Government has become a reflection of who Swapo is. Therefore outsiders have the right to poke inquisitive noses into the party’s affairs even though Swapo evangelists like Ntinda might argue that what the party does is its business alone. If outsiders, especially those with genuine concern for the country, cannot help guide the democracy that we have the party’s flames of internal fires ultimately descend into energy-sapping but useless fights within the Government also. Therefore, there’s no fudging in politics. You win or you don’t even if you are a so-called outsider or onlooker and with Swapo’s succession debate publicly marching left but physically walking right, there is also a need for a debate both in and outside party structures.

Team Namibia: What Type Of Players Do We Need?

SWAPO has banned a public debate on the succession issue but discussions over who should take over from President Hifikepunye Pohamba continue in public places such as football pitches, bars and shebeens, shopping malls and mahangu fields.

It is the way it should be!
We cannot allow the party, undoubtedly the main political grouping in the country, to keep the debate away from non-members. There is a likelihood that the elected leader will be the person to steer the country's boat for five years and decisions taken by such a person will affect us all and not only Swapo members.
It is against such background that I have decided to throw in my ten cents' worth by looking at collective (team) leadership for the next five years.
I suggest that, instead of looking at individuals, aka Hage Geingob, Marco Hausiku, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Jerry Ekandjo, Utoni Nujoma or even Nahas Angula who has declared his intentions to retire, we look at the kind of team Swapo needs to re-energise itself and which will inspire Namibians.
In any case, and whatever people might think of former President Sam Nujoma's leadership style, he did have a team, although it included some questionable characters.
Nujoma was surrounded by the likes of Geingob as first Prime Minister, the calming influence of Pohamba and the late Hendrik Witbooi but also fiery ones like another departed comrade, Moses //Garoeb, while he even brought in someone like Otto Herrigel in the beginning to take care of the country's finances.
He would use someone like Pohamba to talk nicely to the white community but when things were getting tough, motor-mouth activist //Garoeb would go in to shout, threaten and make noise. That was when Nujoma chose to stay away only later to step in as a peacemaker!
I am not saying that Nujoma's team was brilliant. At times some characters in his team could best be described as political gangsters or their performances were an epic lesson in political buffoonery.
But there was still a sense of a team whose aim was, especially at the beginning, to create an environment of peace through national reconciliation, democracy and tranquility, as Nujoma would selectively point out from time to time.
Once Nujoma was about to move out, the team started falling apart and some, like Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, resigned to form their own political party. They claimed victimisation and lack of democracy within the party.
Swapo needs to think carefully about what it wants for the country now.
Do we want a team with extreme business skills and economic interest at heart; traditionalists who will only pander to the whims of the ruling party, or a group who will blend economic development of the country with what the majority of the voters wish for.
Do we want Hage Geingob, of late seen taking huge business delegations (including some questionable characters) on foreign trips, with the likes of Sven Thieme and Haddis Tilahun (both complete outsiders vis-a-vis Swapo leadership or Iivula-Ithana alongside Joseph Diescho, Boniface Mutumba and John Walters (to mention a few) or Abraham Iyambo leading Richard Kamwi, Saara Kugongelwa-Amadhila and Tom Alweendo. The last group are already in Cabinet but tend not to be associated with camps. They are mainly seen as go-getters.
In South Africa, Jacob Zuma came up with a new team and it seems to be working, albeit still with some minor problems.
What Namibia needs is a group of hardworking, prosperous and shrewd people (team) who love the country and its people. They should be able to inspire Namibians and re-energise Swapo, but not be seen as apparatchiks.
I think of a team with like-minded people. Currently we have a few sharp minds but they seem to operate in isolation.
There are bound to be squabbles and divisions if the Swapo traditionalists start thinking along those lines and I might be accused of promoting cliques or camps. I am not for playground politics of the most immature sort!
I just want Swapo to think about whether a debate around a team will not be appropriate at this moment.
The ball is in the party's court.

Cabinet Needs To Keep Travel Allowances Down

OK, so the children are officially on holiday, fuel has gone up again to cut their travels, the budget should soon be rubber-stamped by politicians who spent six hours to say things they could in two hours, salary increases are about to arrive for civil servants, Windhoek’s traffic officers will be making a few thousand more through fines and outstanding warrants and all roads will probably lead out of Windhoek for the Easter weekend.

It was thus timely for the usually frank and straight-forward ‘mitiri’ (teacher) Prime Minister Nahas Angula, to send an early warning to peers in Cabinet about their travel and allowance claims.
More than six years and a month ago, I watched President Hifikepunye Pohamba making his best speech ever, shortly after he took office as the country’s second leader.
And, having been a minister before that, he did not mince his words when he spoke about unnecessary travel by ministers, deputy ministers and the general unrestricted spending by staff at the country’s embassies abroad.
He said ministers needed “to reduce drastically the number and frequency of their international travels”.
Political office-bearers were instructed to first obtain his permission before they travelled outside the country and then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marco Hausiku, was directed to ensure that “Namibian missions abroad represent the country at some international conferences and meetings to avoid waste and a duplication of efforts”.
Ministers took heed of Pohamba’s warning but for a short period only.
In fact, the President himself undertook regular trips towards the end of his first term, which created the impression that the directive was only aimed at others. He was not leading by example.
I know of some in Government and the private sector who started saying that Pohamba was only ‘visiting’ Namibia so frequently was he abroad!
The saying “do as I say and not as I do” had relevance here.
To convince a majority of us that his directive was serious and that he would not tolerate the behaviour of his ministers who go on trips left, right and centre, Pohamba thus needed to slow down his own travels to lead by example.
Last week it was revealed that Prime Minister Angula has now been tasked to haul in his peers and, it seems, he has taken it on with both hands.
Angula is concerned about the huge spending on subsistence and travel (S&T). For this financial year an amount of almost N$400 million will reportedly be spent on just that.
I have no problem with ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, directors or any other people travelling as long as such trips are coordinated and we see the returns.
Some of the ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries and directors have made it their goal to travel at least 10 days in a month as the S&T became an integral part of their domestic budget.
I am not very sure about the current S&T rates but when I did a story on it some 10 years ago already, ministers were collecting anything between US$350 and US$500 a day for travelling to countries with well-established economies. That is between N$2 500 and N$3 500 a day and for 10 days it will total to N$25 000 and N$35 000. Who couldn’t do with that kind of money as an extra for the month?
But to promote the integrity of our public institutions – especially those responsible for our legislation – our leaders need to stay clear of such practices.
The travel cut should not be only on foreign trips. A weekend away like the Easter weekend should not be claimed if it is for private business.
I know ministers and others have access to Government vehicles and fuel. That’s enough of a luxury already. Stay away from the cash and let it be spent on other people such as those affected by the floods!
Our leaders owe it to the masses to keep Government expenditure down.

Pohamba’s Dilemma:Whether To Support Angula Or Geingob

OK, I’ve been paying a disproportionate amount of attention to Swapo and its internal politicking, but it’s not my fault.

Most of the debate within the opposition parties is incredibly boring.
In fact, in some, like the United Democratic Front or the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), you do not even hear about a debate for succession.
A child born in 1990 has known only one leader of the UDF and can be pardoned for thinking that the party is the property of Justus //Garoëb. And the same goes for Nudo where we have not seen a contest for the presidency for some time now.
At the DTA, Katuutire Kaura has had challengers but they struggle to come up with a better candidate to take over from him.
So succession and opposition are two symmetrically opposed ideas.
With Swapo, there continues to be a lively debate, not only among members but even outsiders, about positions within the party.
This is because many see the party – at least for now – as a vehicle for the political hopes of many as well as a key player in the delivery of services.
There is no way you can talk about bread-and-butter issues without mentioning Swapo at the moment.
That is also why Swapo should stop telling others to mind about their own affairs.
And the latest affairs in Swapo deal with the succession debate.
While President Hifikepunye Pohamba is guaranteed to serve as the party’s and country’s leader for the next four years, the party approved rules and procedures in 2009 already for the election of its office-bearers, clearly outlining the line of succession.
The procedures state that the presidential candidate will come from the top four party leaders in order of seniority. Another line in the document states that if the incumbent President cannot be re-elected because of the two-term constraint, the ruling party’s vice president will be the automatic choice as presidential candidate.
Such rules and procedures were introduced to avoid a repetition of the 2004 Swapo extraordinary congress.
During that congress Pohamba came up against Hidipo Hamutenya (who has since left the party and formed the Rally for Democracy and Progress) and Prime Minister Nahas Angula in a three-cornered contest.
So the key to ascendancy to the party presidency is to become the vice president of Swapo at next year’s congress and that is why some in the Swapo Party Youth League and other levels have started campaigning for debate.
In fact, they have not only started campaigning for debate but moves such as the calls to disband the youth wing’s national executive committee are directly linked to getting people who will support a certain candidate.
Soon similar calls for changes will emerge from within the Swapo Party Women’s League.
For now, Hage Geingob faces Prime Minister Nahas Angula and the party’s secretary general, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana.
Both Geingob and Angula will have served the country for two terms as Prime Minister and both believe that the next step is to lead the country.
No one will admit it yet, but Angula’s machinery is well oiled with current and former Cabinet members as people who do the donkey-work (campaigning) and some of them have openly revealed that it is time for a Ndonga to take over.
Similarly, Geingob also has his backing with people such as Kazenambo Kazenambo who believes that Swapo is ready for a non-Oshiwambo-speaking leader. Geingob is a member of the minority Damara tribe.
With Angula having thrown his weight behind Pohamba after the fallout from the 2004 Swapo candidacy race, it will now be interesting to see who Pohamba will back next year.
Will he opt for Geingob, who is also favoured by former President Sam Nujoma, or will he throw his weight behind the man he handpicked as Prime Minister?
Should Pohamba’s decision be guided by favours from the 2004 congress or by who will best serve the nation as a leader and keep the ruling party intact?
That surely will create a mesmerising debate as discussions around the presidential race continue.