After failing to reach a common understanding, opposition parties to the Windhoek City Council lost their management committee to Swapo.
Sade Gawanas, a former Windhoek mayor, and Ivan Skrywer are teaming up with Clemencia Hansases, Ilse Keister and Clemencia Hanases to go against the council’s current agenda.
During the election process, the group of councillors were elected to each other and confirmed or withdrew their candidacy to the position of mayor.
After numerous withdrawals magistrate Jozaane Clazen declared Joseph Uapingene the last man standing. He is the new mayor of the city.
Swapo’s Magdalena Pienaar–Lombardt became the deputy mayor.
The three-member management committee is headed by Swapo councillors Sam Nujoma (Queen Kamati), Austin Kwenani (Austin Kwenani), and two other positions have been left vacant.
Skrywer and Hanases declined nominations to the management committee.
“Let them stick to their caucus. I decline the nomination,” Skrywer told Klazen during the proceedings.
Bernadus Swartbooi, leader of LPM, said Friday that the actions of their councillors were part a strategy.
He said that the LPM should know the character and capabilities of the parties with which it can collaborate.
“It therefore influences our thinking around who we should have any coalition with. Some political parties without any ideological face merely want to govern,” he said.
‘ABSOLUTE POWER’
Amupanda said they do not want to be delegated to by the Swapo-led council, saying the party has “absolute power” over the management committee.
“The councillors you are seeing here will have their own programmes. They will have a management committee of their own, because we are not part of giving absolute power,” he said, adding a majority-led committee will create problems.
“The essence of working together is because the electorate has said we want you to work together, because it will be eventful,” Amupanda said.
Skrywer also confirmed this by giving his account on the previous committee he was a member of, which was headed by the Independent Patriots for Change.
Amupanda said some opposition members have chosen to work with Swapo because “they have cars to pay off”.
Sources close to this matter report that the opposition tried to reach consensus just two days before the election but failed because the parties were unwilling to give up their former positions.
“Everyone wants to be mayor or chairman of the management committee. Everyone thinks they are better than the others.
“It’s about positions as they don’t want to give chances to others to rotate these positions,” the sources say.
Monday’s meeting will see representatives from the IPC, PDM, Nudo and the Affirmative Repositioning meet to resolve their differences.
Last week’s meeting was attended last week by Manual Ngaringombe, PDM secretary General, and Nico Smit, parliamentarian, Immanuel Nshinge, Keister, IPC spokesperson Immanuel, Keister, and Maitjituavi Kavetu their head of legal affairs, as well as Joseph Kauandenge and Gawanas, Nudo secretary general.
“There is no agreement among parties. We cannot reach consensus if we are selfish, egotistical or unwilling to work together.
“There was a meeting, but there is no willingness to work together among the opposition,” the sources say.
Meanwhile, IPC councillors that did not vote in the election called other councillors “hungry”.
“They just want to fill their bellies,” IPC spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge recently said.
Recently, Natalia /Goagoses, Deputy Minister of Urban and Rural Development, described the City of Windhoek’s election for council as difficult.
Source: namibian
