Pendukeni did nothing at home affairs – Kapofi

Pendukeni did nothing at home affairs – Kapofi STAFF REPORTER



WINDHOEK

Home affairs minister Frans Kapofi has hit out at critics who say he has rolled back on successes attained in the ministry by his predecessor, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana.

Reacting to Namibian Sun’s Cabinet scorecards published on Friday which saw independent analysts concluding that the standards of service implemented by Iivula-Ithana at home affairs have gone backwards, Kapofi said, if anything, the previous minister actually brought more challenges to the ministry.

“To say the standards have dropped from Pendukeni’s time is a lie because she actually did nothing in this ministry. Many of the current problems in the ministry where here when I took over, so it shouldn’t be made to look like I introduced them,” an irate Kapofi said.

Kapofi became minister of home affairs in early 2018 after President Hage Geingob fired Iivula-Ithana from his Cabinet following a heated Swapo elective congress in late 2017.

Iivula-Ithana was fired for perceived unsavoury remarks she made against Geingob during the congress campaigns.

Kapofi said Iivula-Ithana’s work in the ministry was “artificial” and her much-trumpeted perceived success was not sustainable in the long run.

No contender for State House

“So much money was used to acquire systems that were rushed and immediately collapsed as soon as they were implemented,” Kapofi charged.

Iivula-Ithana was credited with implementing a successful turnaround strategy at the ministry which drew praise from the general public for cutting layers of bureaucracy and turning the ministry into a highly effective organisation with faster turnaround times, effective systems, shorter queues, efficient offices and improved customer service.

Kapofi also took issue with scorecard analysts saying that if he harboured any presidential ambitions ahead of next year’s Swapo elective congress, he should forget them.

“I am not a contender for such a position and it hurts that I got linked to it,” he said.

Sixty-eight-year-old Kapofi said he is nowhere near the natural contenders for the race to replace Geingob both in the party and government. The president is in his second term of presidency, which ends in 2025.

The former secretary to Cabinet and presidential affairs minister is one of the senior figures in Swapo, but yesterday insisted: “The line-up [hierarchy] is there and I’m not anywhere in it”.

This despite all Swapo leadership positions becoming redundant going into congress and all members in good standing generally qualify to contest for positions, including the coveted top four.