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Namibia: Swapo Hoists Its Flag On Face-Off
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Brigitte Weidlich
THE ruling Swapo Party yesterday set out to justify its actions over the weekend when its members prevented a scheduled branch meeting of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) at Okuryangava in Windhoek.
Tensions flared and the Police had to be called in to maintain the peace amidst fears of the situation erupting into violence.
Swapo co-ordinator Michael Mwinga claimed that the RDP had used the pretext of a 'municipal meeting' to lure people to attend its rally.
"The RDP were busy inviting people from that section [of the] community [with] membership of Swapo to attend a municipal meeting Saturday to be addressed by RDP regional co-ordinator Jeremiah Nambinga," Mwinga claimed at a press briefing in Windhoek.
The charge was immediately denied by the RDP.
"We sent a letter to the Wanaheda Police station beforehand, informing them it would be a party gathering," the RDP's Administrative Officer Kela Hamutenya told The Namibian telephonically, when he was approached for comment on the allegation.
Hamutenya said they had been totally open about it being an RDP party meeting.
Neither Mwinga nor Swapo Secretary for Information and Mobilisation, Jerry Ekandjo, were available for comment on Sunday despite repeated efforts to get hold of them.
Yesterday Mwinga tried to wrap a scarf around the situation.
"Since municipal meetings do not have the order (sic) to put on the attire of their choice, as a result some [people] put on Swapo attire in the form of scruffs (sic), T-shirts, caps, et cetera," said Mwinga, as he tried to excuse the actions of Swapo members.
The Police had to escort several RDP supporters to Police vehicles and drive them home for fear they might be assaulted by Swapo activists.
The RDP's Nambinga said on Sunday that he eventually called off the RDP meeting "for the sake of peace" in the face of the ugly situation developing.
According to Swapo's Mwinga, RDP supporters "collided on to the community in Swapo colours.
It was then [that] so-called intimidation feelings from RDP developed.
To their shame they could not tell the Police what was the cause of such situation.
They only stood idle in the street [and] let the Police wash their dirty linen."
According to Mwinga, people did not want to leave, as they wanted to attend the 'municipal meeting' and that is why what he called "chaos" ensued.
He claimed that Swapo members had been the ones who had tried to diffuse the situation, "not as alleged that we were difficult to the Police, that is pure fabrication against the Swapo local and regional leadership".
According to Mwinga, the Police called off "both meetings (RDP and municipal), which cooled the whole tension, with no one being injured or beaten or any property damage (sic)."
However, according to the RDP's Nambinga, two of his party supporters laid assault charges at the Wanaheda Police station and the vehicle of an RDP supporter was stoned.
MEDDLESOME MEGAPHONES Asked by The Namibian why he was wearing a Swapo scarf and holding a megaphone on Saturday, Mwinga claimed he was not at the scene at first, but was phoned by a Swapo member to quickly go and help diffuse the situation.
"People listen to you only if you have authority, so I borrowed the Swapo scarf from someone there and the megaphone," he said.
To a question whether it was usual practice for the community in that area to go to municipal meetings with megaphones, he only replied that communities possessed megaphones.
Asked why a Swapo flag had been planted at the open space where the RDP wanted to hold its meeting, Mwinga said: "Swapo members have fixed flags at their houses or at their centres for 24 hours a day - that is their culture."
When pressed to explain why this had been done on open municipal land, Mwinga quipped that to his knowledge there were no municipal regulations banning the hoisting of political parties' flags on municipal property.
The RDP's Hamutenya said: "The Police already submitted their report about the incident to their superiors and we will allow justice to take its course.
The importance is in safeguarding the community from incitement and overthrowing democracy by force and violence.
"The imperative is our need to preserve constitutional rights like freedom of speech, a free press, [and] the right to free assembly in order to maintain the chance for free political dialogue."
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He urged Swapo to become politically mature to this reality.
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