WINDHOEK: Swapo Party Vice President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, will remain the ruling party’s presidential candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections later this year.
This is among the resolutions adopted at the party’s central committee (CC) meeting on Saturday, which also resolved that the ruling party will only hold an extraordinary congress next year.
The CC met at Parliament as the ruling party attempted to navigate the turbulent waters and complicated circumstances brought on by the death of party president, Dr Hage Geingob on 04 February 2024.
Geingob’s demise threw the ruling party into constitutional turmoil ahead of the crucial presidential and national assembly elections.
According to the party’s constitution, if the party president ‘cannot permanently’ carry out his or her duties, Article 15 (9) of the Swapo Party the party must elect a new president within three months of the vacancy.
The constitution dictates the party to call for an extraordinary congress to elect a new president
to complete the term of the former unless such a vacancy occurs six months before the ordinary congress.
However, President Geingob’s death came more than three years before his term was set to expire in 2027.
On Saturday, the CC adopted the recommendations of the Politburo, which has met three times since Geingob’s death.
One such adoption is to delay the extraordinary congress and confirm Nandi-Ndaitwah as the presidential candidate for the national elections scheduled for 27 November 2024.
Swapo spokesperson, Hilma Nicanor, told the media on Saturday that the CC called for an extraordinary congress as per the constitution to take place on 19 April 2025.
She said that the congress would ‘elect a person to complete the term left unexpired due to Geingob’s death.’
She further emphasised that the agenda of the extraordinary congress next year ‘is limited to electing a person to complete the term left unexpired by the former president.’
In addition, Nicanor said the CC took note that the party has, after
elections at the seventh ordinary congress, already identified and nominated its presidential candidate for the November 2024 presidential elections, namely comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, its vice president.
Nicanor, who is Swapo’s secretary for information and publicity, said Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected and declared the winner in the position of vice president.
‘In addition to regional engagements, the party, at the highest level of authority, also publicly confirmed and announced at numerous public forums, including at the party’s 63rd birthday celebrations that comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its presidential candidate,’ Nicanor said.
She added that Nandi-Ndaitwah has also confirmed and recorded her consent to be the party presidential candidate.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency