By Stefanus Nashama 

The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) says the absence of its former deputy leader Henny Seibeb and the vacancy that exist now within the party, has not hindered its strategic direction, nor impacted its performance in recent elections. Seibeb, resigned from both parliament and the party last year. His resignation came just hours after he was removed as the party’s chief whip and he has since re-joined the Swapo Party. However, the LPM has yet to fill the vacant deputy leader position. Despite this, the party’s acting national spokesperson, William Minnie maintains that the party continues to function efficiently, without a deputy leader. He added that the appointment of Seibeb’s replacement will be deliberated and resolved by the party’s highest decision-making body, the People’s Assembly, in accordance with democratic processes. However, he did not give details as to when this will happen.

 “LPM remains unified, focused and election-ready. We are well-positioned to retain governance in the two regions we currently lead and are actively working to expand our footprint into additional regions and local authorities identified as key strategic targets,” Minnie said. “We are confident that this [vacancy] will not impact our readiness or success in [those] elections,” said Minnie. However, political analyst Ebson Mungunda offered a different perspective, suggesting that the absence of a deputy leader could indeed affect LPM’s performance in upcoming elections. 

“Without a deputy leader, that role remains unfulfilled and its responsibilities are not being executed as they should be,” Mungunda said. He recommended that the party should fill the position to ensure better cohesion and performance. “That is an important position. It should have been filled, or the party may come to regret leaving it vacant,” he cautioned. Still, Mungunda acknowledged that internal party structures vary. “Each political party has its own way of doing things. Maybe they know what they are doing,” he concluded.