South West Africa People's Organization

The South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) is a political party and former liberation movement in Namibia. It has been the governing party in Namibia since independence in 1990. For electoral purposes, it is referred to as the "SWAPO Party." The party won 75.1% of popular votes and 55 out of 78 seats in the parliamentary election held on November 15 2004.Fact|date=November 2007

History

After World War I the League of Nations gave South-West Africa, formerly a German colony, to the United Kingdom as a mandate under the title of South Africa. The South African government turned this special mandate arrangement into a military occupation, and tried to extend apartheid rule to Namibia. SWAPO had its base among the Ovambo people of northern Namibia. By the 1960s SWAPO had emerged as the dominant nationalist organization for the Namibian people, co-opting other groups such as the South West Africa National Union (SWANU), and Namibia African People's Democratic Organisation in 1976. [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PFYhaULYUr4C&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=Namibia+African+People's+Democratic+Organisation&source=web&ots=rO9rbpaKTD&sig=5PnriYMAjOkYm8sIQso1r7vVRUU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result] A History of Resistance in Namibia, Page 99, Peter H. Katjavivi, ISBN 0865431442] SWAPO used guerrilla tactics to fight the South African military. The Norwegian government began giving aid directly to SWAPO in 1974.cite book|last=Eriksen|first=Tore Linné|year=|title=Norway and National Liberation in Southern Africa|pages=90] Angola gained its independence on November 11, 1975 following its war for independence. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), a Marxist organization supported by the Soviet Union, quickly came to power. The MPLA offered SWAPO bases in Angola to launch attacks against the South African military in March 1976. The MPLA's alliance with SWAPO and South Africa's cooperation with UNITA sparked the Border War.Fact|date=June 2007

Controversy within the movement

Various groups have claimed that SWAPO committed serious human rights abuses against suspected spies during the Independence struggle, including Breaking the Wall of Silence (BWS), which was founded by those detainees to press the SWAPO-government on the issue. [ [http://www.namibian.com.na/2003/november/national/0396AF0E7.html Church council's stance on detainees revives apartheid rhetoric, charges the NSHR] The Namibian, 18 November 2003] [ [http://www.namibian.com.na/2005/October/national/05DD6374DC.html Ex-detainee issue still runs deep] The Namibian, 4 October 2005] SWAPO denies serious infractions and claims anything that did happen was in the name of liberation. The stories of the detainees begins with a series of successful South African raids that made the SWAPO leadership believe that there were spies in the movement. Hundreds of SWAPO cadres were imprisoned, tortured and interrogated.cite book|last=Leys|first=C.|coauthors=S. Brown|year=2005|title=Histories of Namibia. publisher=London: Merlin Press|ISBN=0-85036-499-X]

Independence

When Namibia gained its independence in 1990 SWAPO became the dominant political party, with its head, Sam Nujoma, elected as Namibia's first President. Nujoma had the constitution changed so he could run for a third term in 1999, but in 2004 he was replaced as the SWAPO presidential candidate by Hifikepunye Pohamba, who was described as Nujoma's "hand-picked successor."cite web|author=|year=2004|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44135&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=NAMIBIA|title=NAMIBIA: Election expected to be low-key|format=HTML|publisher=IRIN|accessdate=2007-11-09|accessyear=2007] Nujoma remained President of SWAPO until November 2007, when he chose not to seek re-election as party leader at a SWAPO congress; Pohamba, previously the party's Vice-President, was elected without opposition to succeed him. Former Prime Minister Hage Geingob was elected to succeed Pohamba as Vice-President at the same congress, [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=nw20071129225608276C206604 "Nujoma succeeded by Pohamba"] , AFP ("IOL"), November 30, 2007.] and Minister of Justice Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana was elected as Secretary-General, becoming the first woman to hold that position. At the congress, Pohamba was renominated as SWAPO's presidential candidate for the 2009 election. [ [http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2231490,00.html "Namibia: Pohamba for 2009 polls"] , News24.com, December 4, 2007.]

SWAPO is a full member of the Socialist International. [ [http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticlePageID=931 List of Socialist International parties in Africa] .]

References