Hamutenya in tight spot in race for deputy secretary general – Kamwanyah

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Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah has said that Swapo Party Kavango West Regional Coordinator Dawid Hamutenya, a candidate nominated for the position of deputy secretary general at a Swapo political bureau meeting on Monday, is in a tight spot for several reasons.

During the same meeting, the polit bureau nominated Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, and Prime Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, for the position of vice president.

Meanwhile, Sophia Shaningwa and Swapo Regional Coordinator for the Oshikoto Region, Armas Amukwiyu were nominated for the position of secretary general.

The deputy secretary-general portfolio will be contested by Members of Parliament Lucia Witbooi, Eveline Nawases-Taeyele and Hamutenya.

“Hamutenya is in a tight spot for several reasons. The first one is the gender aspect. The current environment seems to favour female candidates because of the historical exclusion previously in those positions,” Kamwanyah said.

However, he said things could also work in his favour if the party is to follow the 50/50 gender representation.

The voting, Kamwanyah added, is going to be a closed ballot process which will make it difficult to guarantee a 50/50 outcome.

According to the political analyst, Hamutenya was nominated by the Governor of the Kavango West Region and seconded by member of parliament Tobie Aupindi, while his contender Nawases-Taeyele was nominated by Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.

“If you read that picture it shows that Hamutenya is not featuring so strongly to be part of the top four in terms of the people that nominated him,” he said.

Kamwanyah said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila nominated Nawases-Taeyele to work with her in case she comes out victorious for the vice president position.

Meanwhile, he said the two candidates Hamutenya is nominated with are both from the South, which is currently the stronghold of the Landless People’s Movement.

Because of this, the Swapo Party could be strategising to put a southerner there as the Kavango West Region is currently not a threat, he added.

“These people will always vote for the Swapo Party while the South is a threat to Swapo,” Kamwanyah said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency