14 January 2021 | Politics
HANDS OFF WAKUDUMO: Kavango East residents who yesterday protested in support of Bonifatius Wakudumo.
PHOTO: KENYA KAMBOWE
KENYA KAMBOWE
RUNDU
Some Swapo Party Women’s Council (SPWC) members in the Kavango East Region argue that the recent attacks and calls for the removal of beleaguered governor, Bonifatius Wakudumo, is part of an alleged ploy to dislodge Swapo from its north-eastern stronghold.
This remark is contained in a petition addressed to President Hage Geingob by a group of Wakudumo’s supporters who yesterday marched through the streets of Rundu.
The group condemned the demands of anti-Wakudumo protesters - who marched in the streets of Rundu on 29 December 2020, calling for the removal of the governor after he appointed a Chinese-born Charlie Min Xie as one of his 20 advisors on development in the region.
KENYA KAMBOWE
RUNDU
Swapo will not remove Bernard Esau and Sacky Shanghala from its Central Committee, and Politburo in the case of the latter, unless they are found guilty in the ongoing Fishrot scandal, party spokesperson Hilma Nicanor has said.
The party is under pressure to remove the two men, implicated in the bribery scandal and in jail since November 2019, from its leadership structures.
Late last year, the Politburo deliberated on the possibility of removing the two former ministers, but that did not happen. Swapo recalled the two from parliament when the Fishrot scandal surfaced more than a year ago, and banished them from the party parliamentary list before the 2019 general election. The move was seen as a ploy to hoodwink voters into believing the party did not condone the alleged acts of the two members, but the fact that it has not acted internally, thereby making Shanghala and Esau part of the decision-makers in the party, gives a different impression.
Land grabbers urged to remain calm
THE Windhoek City Police along with elements of the Namibian Police had to intervene to bring a large group of land grabbers that threatened to get unruly about being thrown from land that they claimed as their own, under control.
The land grab follows a few days after the Mayor of Windhoek, Job Amupanda from the Affirmative Repositioning movement and other councillors from the coalition led city council visited informal settlements that were severely affected by flash floods last week.
During the site visit, the possibility of relocating people and allowing those that are forced to rent rooms and shacks in the informal settlements in and around Windhoek to settle on unserviced land was discussed.
07 January 2021 | Politics
BETTER DAYS: NEFF’s Abraham Ndumbu and Kalimbo Iipumbu at a press conference in 2017.
PHOTO: NAMPA
KENYA KAMBOWE
RUNDU
One of the reasons why senior NEFF leader Abraham Ndumbu was expelled from the party two days before Christmas is because he allegedly failed to account for N$60 000 he was entrusted with to buy and sell cattle on behalf of the party.
It is also alleged that Ndumbu was trying to overthrow the party s leadership, more particularly its president Epafras Mukwiilongo, whom Ndumbu allegedly described as unfit to be in parliament because he is corrupt and cannot speak proper English.
RUNDU
Defence minister Peter Vilho says he will not respond to accusations of corruption in the absence of any evidence.
The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement has accused the retired army general of lining his pockets at the expense of the defence ministry.
AR leader Job Amupanda claimed Vilho sanctioned a N$200 million transfer from the defence ministry to its commercial arm, the August 26 Holding Company, in 2017 without treasury approval.
Amupanda claimed to be in possession of a report in which the transaction is listed, which he refused to share with Namibian Sun.
According to Amupanda, the report states that the defence ministry bought naval ships and military uniforms from Brazilian companies at inflated prices and without following tender procedures, during Vilho s term as executive director. In response, Vilho said if this report was an official one from the auditor-general, the current executive director should be able to respond to that.