Swapo members warned to toe the line

By Eliaser Ndeyanale
SWAPO members should be guided by the party’s constitution, while executing their duties, and they should desist from acts that undermine unity, former Swapo Secretary-General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange has said.
Tjiriange said party members should remain loyal and follow party policies, rules and regulations, including popu­larising its policies.
During an exclusive interview with Confidente on Saturday, after a Swapo Party School public lecture in Wind­hoek, the 73-year-old Tjiriange said every Swapo member, irrespective of their position, should act in accordance with the rules of the party.
“From the bottom to the top, nobody is free to do whatever they want to do; follow the constitution,” he said, while also calling for a strong party, in which leaders put the interests of the people first, and not their own.
“Everybody must be guided by the rules and objectives of the party. If any member is asking for something which is correct in the four corners of Swapo, let it be, but if they are using the plat­form to do things that are not permissi­ble, then they are wrong.
“Swapo members must keep this par­ty alive and strong; they must not be driven by self-interest or self-gratifica­tion.”
Tjiriange also expressed his suspicion about people leaving other parties and coming to Swapo to look for positions, saying that their intentions are not known, and they may compromise the party’s aims and objectives.
“Right now, there are other people who are marauding from one party to another. They may be from two to three parties, before they come to Swapo. In the meantime they hang around and they get positions, but nobody knows that they really believe, deep in their hearts, because they are coming from different backgrounds. They don’t know how we suffered and how we came about.”
Asked if he would contest for any po­sition at the upcoming Swapo Congress, Tjiriange said he would not.
“Although I might be senior, whoever is elected, let him lead. It’s a situation of advising, as I am doing now.”
Swapo Party Politburo and Central Committee member, Ben Amathila, warned that if there is no trust within the party, things would go wrong.
He said during the dark days of the liberation struggle, there was trust be­tween the leadership.
“Especially now, when we are prepar­ing to go to congress, you don’t know who to talk to, because the moment you are seen talking to someone, you are accused of belonging to a certain camp that does not even exist… as long as there is no trust among members of the same party, there is a problem, and the party goes wrong,” he said.
Amathila, who is one of the founding members of the party, also lashed out at some of his comrades who are using the party for their personal interests, in­stead of serving the people.