Lahja Nashuuta
The stage is set. The Popular Democratic Movement will hold its intraparty congress this weekend to elect its leadership for the next five years.
PDM is scheduled to have an electoral congress on Saturday in Katima Mulilo, Zambezi region.
The party will also launch its election manifesto there.
With no clear opponent in sight, it is all but clear that PDM leader McHenry Venaani will retain the position unopposed, extending his reign by another five years to 15 years at the helm.
But it looks like all other positions are up for grabs, with six former Members of Parliament (MPs) who were ejected in 2022 following a court order having used their time out of the august House to mount a comeback, New Era understands.
Known as the PDM Six in political circles, the former MPs who were removed from the National Assembly in 2022 and replaced with those elected in 2019, have allegedly regrouped for a complete takeover.
They are Geoffrey Mwilima, Esmeralda !Aebes, Johannes Martin, Kazeongere Tjeundo, Timotheus Shihumbu and Pieter Mostert.
They were replaced by Hidipo Hamata, Yvette Araes, Maximalliant Katjimune, Reggie Diergaardt, Charmaine Tjirare and Mike Venaani, McHenry’s father. Now, !Aebes has made it clear that she is gunning for the party’s vice presidency. She is expected to square off against incumbent Jennifer van den Heever.
Sources close to the party told this publication that there are two other female candidates, seasoned legislator Elma Dienda and Opuwo mayor Rosa Mbinge-Tjeundo, who are eyeing the position.
Martin, a former schoolteacher and sports coach, told New Era yesterday that he would contest for the secretary general (SG) position.
He will square off against incumbent Manuel Ngaringombe, while Mwilima, a seasoned farmer from Zambezi, will be contesting for the national chairperson post against Ricky Vries. Shihumbu will be running for the secretary for legal affairs’ position against Katjimune, while Benson Katjirijova, who has for years led the dormant party youth wing, is set to challenge Linus Tobias for the deputy SG position.
Promise
We interviewed some candidates to understand what they intend to bring to the PDM table. Martin promised to improve the effectiveness of the SG, if elected.
He furthermore wants to invest in capacity-building and development, the full functioning of regional, constituency and branch structures, as well as consistently engaging communities through various projects. Besides that, he promised better remuneration for PDM staff.
“I will provide PDM recruitment packages and staff benefits, as well as formulate and develop the annual political programmes of the party,” he noted. Martin said “Namibians are looking for a politically-mature party to vote for to end corruption, unemployment and injustice. Our movement can only win the trust of voters if our congress decides prudently on the leadership that can earn the trust of voters.”
Meanwhile, Katjirijova, the former PDM youth league secretary and current secretary for organisation and mobilisation, promised to bring financial independence to party structures if elected. He expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the party is handling its funds, stating that the modus operandi used by the party to fund activities has made it difficult for regional structures and wings to execute intended programmes.
“I have been serving this movement for the past 22 years at different levels, including as secretary general of the youth league, and there is a need for transformation, especially at the leadership level. Those who have been at the helm of the party for too long need to give chances to others who have been working closely with the people on the ground,” said Katjirijova. “Our structure needs to be independent from the mother body. The regional, constituency and branch levels should have an independent budget and funds to be able to implement party activities at that level, and not wait for the mother body to release funds,” he continued.
Katjirijova said currently, the party’s funds are being handled by the treasurer general, while party activities are being funded by the head office. “This status quo needs to change,” he said. Meanwhile, the PDM will be the first party to launch its manifesto ahead of this year’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.
In it, Venaani said over the past weekend, the party will map out job-creation, skills development, economic change, education and value-addition, upon which the document is hinged. He made the remarks while officially opening the party’s wings at congresses.
“In Namibia, with a youthful population of over 2.1 million people under the age of 35, our young people have the power to reshape our future. If the promise of gaining employment post-graduation continues to be a mirage, it is time for a change.
We can no longer be strung along by our noses with the demands that we need a grade 12 certificate and 10 years of working experience to secure gainful employment. The PDM offers that change. We are committed to addressing this crisis head-on, and we urge the youth to vote for a movement that prioritises their employment and economic empowerment,” Venaani said. In its 2019 manifesto, PDM promised to remove barriers hindering citizens from pursuing their dreams with dignity, and implement interventions to help those in poverty move towards self-sufficiency.
There was also a strong component of agricultural modernisation and funding, a promise of one plot per family and one factory per constituency, which they did not deliver.
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