Source: Namibian
THE Swapo Party Women's Council (SPWC) will throw its weight behind a female candidate, should a woman within the ruling party be nominated for any top-four position at the upcoming congress of the party.
Speaking at a media conference in Windhoek yesterday, SPWC deputy secretary Eunice Iipinge said the women's wing would support any female candidate nominated for a position within the ruling Swapo Party, be it at branch, regional or national level.
"It is our (SPWC) dream to be (represented) at every level of the party," Iipinge said.
The SPWC will have 20 delegates at the party's national congress later this year, but Iipinge said this does not mean that they will be the only women at the congress.
Iipinge told The Namibian that there are currently 24 women who are members of the SPWC on the Swapo Central Committee, and by virtue of their membership to the Central Committee will also be present at the national congress.
Currently, five SPWC members are Cabinet Ministers, namely Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Minister of Environment Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Home Affairs Minister Rosalia Nghidinwa and Gender Equality Minister Doreen Sioka.
Of these, Iivula-Ithana and Nandi-Ndaitwah are members of the SPWC central committee. Iivula-Ithana and Kuugongelwa-Amadhila along with Libertina Amathila also serve on the Swapo Politburo.
All five of these Cabinet Ministers also serve on the Swapo Party central committee.
Although no high-ranking Swapo official has openly expressed any desire to succeed President Hifikepunye Pohamba and take over the reins of Swapo, Iivula-Ithana, who is also Swapo secretary general, is believed to be one of the main contenders.
Since being elected to the helm of the SPWC in 2007, Petrina Haingura, who was re-elected as SPWC secretary for a second term in December, has made equal representation for women at decision-making platforms at both party and governmental structures a top priority.
Pohamba has also vowed support for the "zebra list" and urged the SPWC central committee members to "elect women so that we can be able to talk about the fifty-fifty (representation)," when he spoke at last weekends SPWC central committee meeting.
"You (women) are not united when it comes to elections," Pohamba said at the meeting, adding: "I was disappointed in the last elections when the small number of women in Parliament was even further reduced."
"Vote for yourself to achieve the fifty-fifty (representation)," Pohamba said as he added that the Swapo Party would continue to support Namibian women in an effort to increase the representation of women in decision-making platforms to 50 per cent.
"The Swapo Party is committed in achieving gender equality in line with the Millennium Development Goals," Pohamba said.