By Staff Writer WINDHOEK Ruling Swapo Party politician Felix Mukupi has commended government for speeding up rural development in his constituency of Sibbinda in Caprivi where hundreds of people are being uplifted as a result of new development schemes. He singled out the extension of the rural electrification programme that culminated in villagers and schools switching from candles, that normally cause hut fires, to electric bulbs. Other community upliftment schemes cited by the Sibbinda councillor were the upgrading of the Sibbinda-Linyanti feeder road to a gravel road and the extension of the Mobile Telecommunications (MTC) cellular network that enables villagers in the remote constituency to be linked up through mobile phones, even when they do not have fixed land lines that usually take ages to install and are relatively expensive. Mukupi says there have also been some significant improvements in the education sector, particularly with the upgrading of the school hostel at Sikosinyana Secondary School that accommodates students from the constituency and those from outside Sibbinda. Mukupi, who is also a successful businessman, appealed to members of his constituency to initiate more self-reliant and sustainable projects. He urged them to work with his office “to reduce hunger and unemployment, particularly among the youth”. He stressed that his constituency office has prioritized agricultural projects this year to enable people such as elderly citizens and the youth, who dropped out of school for one reason or another, to embrace the government’s green scheme projects to boost food security. Mukupi says the Caprivi, with vast tracts of arable land on top of an abundance of perennial rivers such as Mashi, Kwando, Chobe and Zambezi, has bigger agriculture potential and could produce enough food to feed the nation and produce a surplus for export. But he says this dream could only be realized if the residents of the region fully embrace projects such as the green scheme and desist from activities that are counter-productive. He also appealed to Sibbinda residents to reject some individuals who for personal gain are apparently trying to sow confusion among villagers, and advised the community to rather work tirelessly for their own good and not to advance the interests of selfish people. Mukupi made reference to one caller who recently phoned the NBC national call-in programme claiming the Swapo councillor spends most of his time outside his constituency and that the politician does not see eye-to-eye with the newly elected chairperson of Sibbinda. Mukupi says he was reliably informed that the caller is trying day-and-night to tarnish his image as a teacher at Sibbinda. He is adamant that though he does not bear any grudges against the radio caller who is a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, the caller’s activities are geared towards advancing and promoting his party at the expense of Swapo and that his activities will simply derail some of the proposed developments in the area. He challenged his opponent to prove that he spends most of his time outside his constituency.