Editing SWAPO (section)

{{Short description|Political party in Namibia}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = SWAPO Party of Namibia<br>{{small|South West Africa People's Organisation}}
| native_name      = 
| logo             = Logo of the SWAPO Party of Namibia.png
| colorcode        = {{party color|SWAPO}}
| leader1_title    = President
| leader1_name     = [[Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah]]
| leader2_title    = Vice President
| leader2_name     = [[Lucia Witbooi]]
| leader3_title    = Secretary-General
| leader3_name     = [[Sophia Shaningwa]]
| leader4_title    = Vice Secretary-General
| leader4_name     = [[Nangolo Mbumba]]
| ideology         = '''Since 2017:'''<br />[[Socialism]] with [[Namibia|Namibian]] characteristics<ref>{{cite news |title=Socialism with Namibian characteristics |url=https://www.namibiansun.com/news/socialism-with-namibian-characteristics2019-01-17 |date=17 January 2019 |access-date=16 April 2020 |work=Namibian Sun |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Will Swapo's Socialism Come to 'Mixed Economy' Namibia? |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/70638/read/Will-Swapos-Socialism-Come-to-Mixed-Economy-Namibia |access-date=16 April 2020 |work=The Namibian |language=en |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220172257/https://www.namibian.com.na/70638/read/Will-Swapos-Socialism-Come-to-Mixed-Economy-Namibia |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=sweeping>{{Cite news |title=Politburo approves sweeping changes |last=Iileka |first=Sakeus |newspaper=[[The Namibian]] |date=9 November 2017 |page=1 |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/61322/read/Politburo-approves-sweeping-changes |access-date=11 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112021127/https://www.namibian.com.na/61322/read/Politburo-approves-sweeping-changes |archive-date=12 November 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Tötemeyer">{{Cite web |url=http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/namibia/05913.pdf |first=Gerhard |last=Tötemeyer |author-link=Gerhard Tötemeyer |title=The Management of a Dominant Political Party system with particular reference to Namibia |publisher=[[Friedrich Ebert Stiftung]] |date=December 2007 |page=3 |access-date=20 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214103045/http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/namibia/05913.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}</ref><br /><!--

-->'''1990–2017:'''<br />[[Social democracy]]<ref name="Tötemeyer"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/37/027.html |first=Timothy |last=Dauth |title=From Liberation Organisations to Ruling Parties: The ANC and SWAPO in Transition |work=NamNet Digest, Vol. 95, no. 3 |date=17 January 1995 |access-date=9 June 2011}}</ref><br />[[Statism]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/164541/archive-read/Social-Movements-Party-Politics-And-Democracy-In-Namibia |first=Henny |last=Seibeb |title=Social Movements, Party Politics And Democracy In Namibia |publisher=[[The Namibian]] |date=12 May 2017 |access-date=12 October 2017 |archive-date=13 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013120525/https://www.namibian.com.na/164541/archive-read/Social-Movements-Party-Politics-And-Democracy-In-Namibia |url-status=dead }}</ref><br /><!--

-->'''1960–1990:'''<br />[[Communism]]<ref name=Sand>{{cite web |last=Whiting |first=Nicky |date=2015-02-09 |title=Sand, San and sacred lands |url=https://www.global-briefing.org/category/section/spotlight/namibia/ |website=Global |location= |publisher=Global-briefing.org |access-date=2025-02-25 |quote=Swapo was originally a communist party but, in common with many other far-left ruling parties in other parts of Africa, it has moved to the centre and now supports private ownership, enterprise and investment.}}</ref><br />[[Marxism–Leninism]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zollmann |first1=Jakob |date=2021 |title=Socialismes en Afrique |series=54 |url=https://books.openedition.org/editionsmsh/51060 |publisher=Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme |pages=593–612 |isbn=9782735126996 }}</ref><ref name=Soiri>{{Cite book |url= https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:nai:diva-608|first=Iina |last=Soiri |title=The Radical Motherhood: Namibian Women's Independence Struggle |series=Nordiska Afrikainstitutet Research Report, No 99 |date=May 1996 |publisher=Nordiska Afrikainstitutet |isbn=9789171063809 |place=Uppsala}}</ref><ref name=Report>{{cite report |date=February 1990 |title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices For 1989 |url=https://archive.org/stream/countryreportson1989unit/countryreportson1989unit_djvu.txt |location=US |publisher=Department of State |access-date=2025-05-20}}</ref><br />[[Scientific socialism]]<ref name="Dreyer">{{cite book|title=Namibia and Southern Africa: Regional Dynamics of Decolonization, 1945-90|last=Dreyer|first=Ronald|location=London|publisher=Kegan Paul International|year=1994|isbn=978-0710304711|pages=73–87, 100–116}}</ref><br />[[Anti-colonialism]]<ref name=Camp>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Christian|title=National Liberation in Postcolonial Southern Africa: A Historical Ethnography of SWAPO's Exile Camps|date=October 2015|pages=73–89|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1107099340}}</ref>
| headquarters     = Erf 2464<br />Hans-Dietrich Genscher Street<br />[[Katutura]]<br />[[Windhoek]]<br />[[Khomas Region]]
| international    = [[Socialist International]]
| website          = {{URL|https://www.swapo-party.org/}}
| country          = Namibia
| abbreviation     = SWAPO
| founders         = [[Sam Nujoma]]<br />[[Mburumba Kerina]]<br />[[Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo]]<br />[[Jacob Kuhangua]]<br />Solomon Mifima<br />Paul Helmuth<br />[[Andreas Shipanga]]<br />Erasmus Erastus Mbumba<br />[[Emil Appolus]]<br />Maxton Joseph Mutongulume<br />Carlos Hamatu<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.klausdierks.com/FrontpageMain.html |title=Klaus Dierks Chronology |website=klausdierks.com |access-date=13 April 2025 |quote=The OPO’s reconstitution as SWAPO is triggered by national leaders such as Sam Nujoma, Mburumba Kerina, Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo, Jacob Kuhangua, Solomon Mifima, Paul Helmuth, Andreas Shipanga, Erasmus Erastus Mbumba, Emil Appolus, Maxton Joseph Mutongulume and Carlos Hamatu}}</ref>
| slogan           = 
| founded          = {{Start date and age|1960|04|19|df=y}}
| predecessor      = [[Ovamboland People's Organization]] (OPO)
| newspaper        = ''Namibia Today'' {{small|(1960–2015)}}
| student_wing     = 
| youth_wing       = [[SWAPO Party Youth League]]
| wing3_title      = Paramilitary wing
| wing3            = [[People's Liberation Army of Namibia]] (until 1990)
| membership_year  = 
| membership       = 
| position         = [[Centre-left]] to [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]]<br /><!--

-->'''1960–1990:'''<br />[[Far-left politics|Far-left]]<ref name=Sand />
| national         = 
| affiliation1_title = African affiliation
| affiliation1     = [[Former Liberation Movements of Southern Africa]]
| colours          = {{colorbox|{{party color|SWAPO}}|border=silver}} [[Political colours#Red|Red]] (primary)<br>{{colorbox|#003281|border=silver}} {{colorbox|#009641|border=silver}} [[Blue]], [[Green]] (secondary)
| anthem           = 
| seats1_title     = [[National Assembly (Namibia)|National Assembly]]
| seats1           = {{Composition bar|51|104|{{party color|SWAPO}}}}
| seats2_title     = [[National Council (Namibia)|National Council]]
| seats2           = {{Composition bar|28|42|{{party color|SWAPO}}}}
| seats3_title     = Regional Councils
| seats3           = {{Composition bar |88|121|{{party color|SWAPO}}}}
| seats4_title     = Local Councils
| seats4           = {{Composition bar|277|378|{{party color|SWAPO}}}}
| seats5_title     = [[Pan-African Parliament]]
| seats5           = {{Composition bar|4|5|{{party color|SWAPO}}}}
| symbol           = 
| flag             = [[File:Flag of South West Africa People's Organisation.svg|150px]]
}}
{{Politics of Namibia}}
The '''South West Africa People's Organisation''' ('''SWAPO''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|w|ɑː|p|əʊ}}; {{langx|af|Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie}}, SWAVO; {{langx|de|Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation}}, SWAVO), officially known as the '''SWAPO Party of Namibia''', is a political party and former independence movement in [[Namibia]] (formerly [[South West Africa]]). Founded in 1960, it has been the governing party in Namibia since the country achieved independence in 1990. The party continues to be dominated in number and influence by the [[Ovambo people|Ovambo ethnic group]].

SWAPO held a two-thirds majority in [[Parliament of Namibia|parliament]] from 1994 to 2019. In the [[2019 Namibian general election|general election]] held in November 2019, the party won 65.5% of the popular vote and 63 out of the 104 seats in the [[National Assembly (Namibia)|National Assembly]]. It also holds 28 out of the 42 seats in the [[National Council (Namibia)|National Council]]. From November 2017 until his death in February 2024, [[President of Namibia|Namibian President]] [[Hage Geingob]] remained the president of SWAPO after being elected to the position at the party's electoral congress.<ref>{{cite news |title=Namibia's President Geingob elected leader of ruling SWAPO party |url=https://www.africanews.com/2017/11/27/namibia-s-president-geingob-elected-leader-of-ruling-swapo-party/ |work=Africanews |date=n.d.}}</ref>