As the election campaigns hot up in the country, Elijah Ngurare’s Saturday speech at a Swapo rally in Sammora Machel constituency had all the ingredients of a moving, touching, and inspiring speech—one of the best speeches ever delivered so far in this election campaign.

As the highly spirited Ngurare eloquently delivered his speech as the guest speaker at this rally, thousands of party supporters gave him ovation after ovation, depicting their appreciation of both the content of his speech and his oratory skills. In rhetoric, it is said that a speech never comes alone, and true to this, Ngurare’s speech carried the messages of hope and trust in Swapo.

“The Swapo Party election manifesto 2025-2030 is pregnant with hope. Water and sanitation, electricity, adequate schools, including vocational education, health centres, police stations, and roads. We must deliver. The next five years must be based on performance and absolute service delivery. The Swapo Party can and must deliver, and all of us must support our presidential candidate, comrade Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, to deliver on this noble undertaking,” said Ngurare, followed by cheers from the crowd.

Appealing to collective memory and nostalgia, Ngurare said: “You were part of the hope on 21 March 1990. Thirty-four years later, there is hope and there must be hope for every Namibian. We celebrate our achievements. We acknowledge our challenges. After elections, we hope that the comrades in sections, branches, and districts of Samora Machel Constituency will also be instrumental in benefiting from the government procurement system.” He chronicled how in 2012 he led a delegation of the Swapo Party Youth League leadership and membership in Samora Machel, specifically in Tlabanello Number 3, Moses Garoeb, and Tobias Hainyeko constituencies. “We camped here and had a bonfire. Residents of Samora Machel and other constituencies camped with us with a clear objective of identifying the challenges being faced and providing solutions to the City of Windhoek and to central government. 

We did this because the Swapo Party is a grassroots political party with ideas of solidarity with the downtrodden, freedom for the oppressed, and social justice for the disadvantaged,” Ngurare explained.

He noted that amongst the challenges during this vigil were lack of social amenities such as clean drinking water, sanitation, roads, telecommunications, electricity, schools, and clinics. 

In addition, residents had no access to land; security of land ownership and unemployment also featured prominently. That time the leadership stood with the people and condemned the demolition of their houses. “We prevailed on the City of Windhoek to desist from destroyed houses and respect the humanity of the people in the informal settlements. They too deserve dignity and respect. We mobilised for tanks, and they were provided to the community here in Samora Machel Constituency,” remarked Ngurare, adding that they presented their findings to former president Hifikepunye Pohamba and to the City of Windhoek. A number of these issues were attended to and included as part of the Swapo Party election manifesto 2014-2019. 

He praised the residents of Samora Machel constituency for being individually and collectively the backbone of Swapo.

“You are the holder of the political ladder of Swapo since 1989,” Ngurare said, followed by a huge applause from the crowd.

Turning national, Ngurare said that there must be hope for the people everywhere, including those in the informal settlements such as One Nation or Tlabanello Number 3 in Windhoek; Choto in Zambezi Region; Sauyema in Kavango East Region; Ekutu Lyatika in Erongo Region; Area 7 in the Karas region; and Epako in Omaheke. 

Ngurare hailed the Swapo Party-led government, which had dreams of a better Namibia, highlighting that today “we are living in a country with a higher literacy level. Schools are accessible to most people.  Many of our people, especially the youth, have gone to universities and are beneficiaries of the NSFAF loan scheme.”

“We are calling our government to allocate more funds for all our students to benefit from this scheme. 

The Swapo Party had a dream to ensure socioeconomic development; to this end, the Swapo Party-led government has delivered countrywide road networks and connections to facilitate business and trading. In fact, Namibia is ranked second with the best road network in Africa. It is our commitment that challenges of corruption, wastage of resources, and slow service delivery in some areas and sectors will not be condoned, and this must be stopped forthwith.”

Ngurare ended by saying, “We have no doubt that with comrade Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah we shall win against all socio-economic challenges and make Samora Machel a shining example in Khomas Region and indeed in Namibia.”

 To all intents and purposes, Ngurare proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is a vibrant and brilliant politician poised for greater heights in his political party. 

The hugs, handshakes, and ovations Ngurare received at the end of his speech were a clear testimony of a job well done.

*Professor jairos Kangira is a professor of English at the University of Namibia. Email address: kjairos@gmail.com