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President Hage Gottfried Geingob

Windhoek – Namibian President Hage Geingob has sacked two senior government ministers who challenged him during the ruling party’s last leadership contest, his office announced on Thursday.

He dismissed Minister of Home Affairs Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana and Youth Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo, both of whom have served in government since Namibia’s independence in 1990. “These terminations of service are with immediate effect,” the presidency said in a statement.

Ekandjo ran against Geingob for the presidency of the ruling Swapo party during the November party vote, with Iivula-Ithana as his running mate. They lost the vote to the president’s camp. In the runup to the elective congress, Ekandjo had angered the president with the remarks that the “current Swapo leadership is weak, that is why the government is weak”.

Geingob has since the congress cemented his control in the party, where his close allies also won three top positions.-News24