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The sudden sacking of Foreign Affairs Minister Hidipo Hamutenya and his deputy on Monday night, Dr Kaire Mbuende has sent shockwaves through Namibia and raised concern in diplomatic circles. Even Swapo party members were said to have been shaken by the way in which President Nujoma fired the two ministers. With uncertainty over the extra-ordinary Swapo party congress looming, which is supposed to take place this weekend, rumours of another Cabinet reshuffle are gaining more ground.

From reliable sources PLUS learnt that those Swapo members who nominated presidential candidates Hamutenya and Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula might not be in their posts for too long. Prisons Minister ya Toivo, aged 79, nominated Angula in April and was seconded by Health Minister Dr Libertine Amathila. While it could be expected that Minister ya Toivo might retire in April 2005, after the new government is sworn in, it appears that Dr Amathila might soon be replaced by a well known Windhoek medical doctor. Speaker of Parliament Dr Mosé Tjitendero, who nominated Hamutenya as presidential candidate, also appears to be targeted for retirement.

Even Education Minister Angula might not ‘survive’ too long in his post, it is said, because President Nujoma apparently pursues his goal to make lands minister Hifikepunye Pohamba his successor.

A female junior Swapo member is apparently to become the next deputy foreign minister and Fisheries Minister Dr Iyambo is said to take over the recently tastefully renovated office on the fourth floor opposite the Tintenpalast.

A change at the helm of either the transport or the trade ministry appears to be in the pipeline as well as for the top management of two parastatals. "The two persons in question are allegedly too western in their thinking and their management practices," a source told PLUS. "The president seems to be on the warpath," another source told PLUS, "apparently cleansing the leadership". A middle-aged white Namibian, formerly a radio announcer and now a controversial political analyst in South Africa, has allegedly been observed to visit State House frequently in recent months. "There might be a link to the analyst and the President’s recent outbursts against Europeans and so-called neo-imperialist forces," the source said. The analyst repeatedly published his strange views in the local government media.