A PLAN by Swapo politicians to discuss amendments to the ruling party's constitution at the central committee failed over the weekend, a move that favours the presidential ambitions of deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.
The two are considered hot favourites to challenge for the Swapo vice president position, which guarantees one of them the opportunity to compete for the presidential elections in 2024.
Last month, Nandi-Ndaitwah and Kuugongelwa-Amadhila successfully blocked proposals to amend the Swapo constitution rules that state that candidates vying for the top positions should have "consistently and persistently" served as a member of the ruling party's central committee for 10 years.
The current rules favour the two top politicians, but there has been an inside onslaught against the rules that are criticised for locking out other presidential candidates, such as mines minister Tom Alweendo and defence minister Frans Kapofi.
Swapo held another central committee meeting on Saturday, largely to discuss research papers compiled by the party think tank on various sectors such as the economy, education, housing, youth empowerment, land, natural resources, technology, national security and social development.
One of the think tank research papers, titled 'Revitalisations of the Swapo Party Within the New Era' investigated the so-called 'Helmut Amendments', which were added to the Swapo constitution in 2018 to tighten requirements for the top four candidates.
The presentation on Saturday specifically urged the party to reconsider the requirements for candidates who want to vie for the top four spots in Swapo.
Geingob, who often reads a public statement before central committee meetings, failed to do so at the last meeting.
When Sophia Shaningwa gave Geingob the platform to address the committee, he simply said "it's open".
It's unclear if there was a mix-up, since Geingob had in fact prepared a speech.
He, however, read a statement for the central committee members behind closed doors.
The statement, obtained by The Namibian, shows that Geingob declined to comment on the proposed amendments.
"These (Helmut amendments discussion) affect me since I am in the top four. I could be convinced," Geingob said.
The Namibian reported last month that Geingob supports the reviewing of the requirements for top positions, but he allegedly knows that it's a battle he might lose.
Nandi-Ndaitwah is said to have proposed that the discussion around amendments of requirements for the top four positions not be discussed at the time, since it was already rejected by the politburo.
Sources who attended the meeting said Nandi-Ndaitwah proposed that the discussion be held at the next Swapo meeting, which is likely to be after the party policy conference.
Questions sent to Nandi-Ndaitwah were not answered.
YOUTH QUOTA REJECTED
Geingob also commented on a think tank report titled 'Youth Empowerment, Arts and Sports', presented by Hallo Angala and Ivan Pieters, which singled out key challenges facing the party, such as youth apathy.
The report, Geingob said, argues that "given that the youth demographic currently serves as a majority in Namibia, it is of utmost importance that the Swapo party becomes intentional regarding youth participation in mainstream politics".
Geingob said the paper recommended that Swapo should "introduce a quota" for young politicians to take on positions of responsibility in the party.
"There are merits in some of the findings," Geingob said, but he warned that "quotas, inasmuch as they can offer short-remedies on this issue, are not sustainable and not the way to go in any democratic organisation".
In 2013, Geingob was part of the congress at Swakopmund, which introduced quotas compelling the 50/50 representation of women in all party structures.
Geingob said young people should not be attracted to Swapo because of positions, but rather its ideologies.
"Most of the key findings in this paper are based on an incentive structure, which is contrary to the spirit of volunteering and conviction."
Geingob agreed that the party needs a spokesperson and a head of elections to improve communications and target audiences.
FAILURE
In his statement, Geingob also touched on the findings of the Swapo research papers.
"The recommendations include calls for additional investments in the housing sector, continuation of fiscal consolidation, increased resource mobilisation in the agricultural sector, diversification in the energy sector, greater SME support, more investment in the ICT and education sector."
Geingob admitted that his administration is failing to deliver on the housing promises made in the Harambee Prosperity Plan, to deliver 5 000 serviced plots and 20 000 houses.
"I am first to admit that there has been very slow progress in achieving the desired annual targets of 5 000 housing units and this is attributable to budgetary constraints."
He said "an estimated budget of N$3,2 billion" is required to deliver the remaining 18 521 housing units.
"We need stronger public private partnerships to deliver on this important commitment."
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The National Housing Enterprise, the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, the mass housing programme, and the Build Together programme are allocated N$40,5 million in the 2022/23 budget.
EMPOWERMENT
Geingob said the recommendations were insightful and relevant but "made little effort to reconcile the funding gap occasions and limited fiscal space".
Geingob also commented on the issue of the ongoing discussions around oil discovery and the hydrogen project.
"The paper is clear that revenue collection alone through taxation and royalties does not adequately address the enclave problem of minimising ventures, due to factors such as transfer pricing and entrenching discriminatory practices (remnants of apartheid)."
He made an example of a uranium mining company that makes a loss in Namibia, and yet makes up for it by producing nuclear energy in another country.
"Since tax is only paid at the point of profit making, revenue collection cannot ensure that Namibia derives maximum benefit from extractive ventures," Geingob said.
He said this is where Namibian policies need to come into play, to link mining ventures to the local market and suppliers.
The question now, Geingob said, is whether the country needs a local suppliers policy instead of including them in the broader empowerment policy, currently being worked on by the Office of the Prime Minister.
