New Era

WINDHOEK â€" President Hifikepunye Pohamba is in for another difficult time in his presidency, with just over a month left before he announces his new Cabinet and other critical appointments that are likely to induce both joy and bitter emotions in some quarters.

After sending his political opponents packing in the Presidential and National Assembly elections last year, the Head of State now faces a second hurdle in as many months, that of making political appointments for his new government.

A lot of dimensions would come into play when Pohamba, expectedly in consultation with his Swapo Party and top government advisors, appoints members of his second and last government as President of the country.

Swapo, just like any other active mass political movement, has groups within itself who, while they all share the same overall mission, have diverse interests and may therefore lobby things in favour of such interests.

Tables turned at the last Swapo electoral college in September 2009 when the dominant so-called "Tanga Group" relatively lost its cohesion and performed quite poorly as a result.

It is an open secret within the ruling party that the Tanga Group, consisting of Swapo veterans who attended the first party congress in Tanzania in the early 1970s, has been the dominant block within Swapo and most of its members have been successful in getting appointed for Cabinet and other critical government positions as they voted for each other.

For the first time in the history of the party, however, the Tanga Group seems to have lost its grip and other blocks within the party have made inroads instead.

Party insiders say Pohamba faces a daunting challenge of making a fairly balanced government, consisting of both his Tanga Group colleagues, while a mix of other groups should also come on board.

Pohamba has recently said 2010 would not be business as usual in matters related to service delivery and if this is to be effected during the next five weeks some of his ministers may not be retained.

The position of Prime Minister, declined by Marco Hausiku in 2005, remains a talking point for many in Swapo.

Incumbent Nahas Angula could become a victim of, among other reasons, a need to have a Premier from a different tribe from that of the President and may not be retained, Swapo sources say.

A Namibian Prime Minister has traditionally been always from a different tribe from that of the President but that changed in 2005 when Angula was appointed in that position. Angula, party sources say, was roped in after Hausiku declined the offer for the hot seat.

"There are other capable cadres in the party who, in event that Nahas is not retained, can fill the shoes," a Swapo insider says, citing Abraham Iyambo, Richard Kamwi and Immanuel Ngatjizeko as typical examples.

Another dilemma Pohamba may face in his appointments is rooted in what the ruling party calls "the politics of 2012", when the party would have another congress to elect new leaders.

If Pohamba intends to stand for re-election as Swapo president at the 2012 congress, he may opt to appoint people that would back him at that congress, sources opine.

The top four leaders of the party would normally be heavily involved in advising the President in making his appointments, but since these leaders may have vested interest in some positions for current and future purposes, their advice too would be scrutinised.

New Era understands that Pohamba's appointments upon takeover of Government in 2005 raised a few eyebrows and if the President is cognisant of such previous discontent, he might choose to play his cards differently this time around.

Among the issues that raised concerns in 2005, insiders say, is the fact that all State security apparatus, the Namibian Defence Force (NDF), Namibian Police and Central Intelligence Services, were left in the hands of people from the same language group.

"Some people questioned whether the President had only trust in one group of people when it comes to security matters," a source said.

The Head of State could also have a headache in balancing his Cabinet with members of the party's Central Committee and those from other structures of the party.

The nation would also wait in anticipation to see whether Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) nominee Piet van der Walt, the first-ever Afrikaner to feature so prominently on the Swapo parliamentary list, would get any crucial appointment come next month.

"The Afrikaners in particular would want to see if he (Van der Walt) was just being used to attract white votes or whether Afrikaners can really occupy critical positions in Swapo or its government," a political analyst who declined to be named said.

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