Lahja Nashuuta

After launching its campaign ahead of November’s general election over the weekend, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) decided to put all campaign-related activities on hold in honour of the late President Hage Geingob. 

Their political activities have since been placed on ice until Geingob’s burial, IPC’s national general secretary (NGS) Christine !Auchamus announced in a statement on Sunday. 

President Geingob died on Sunday morning, just four minutes past midnight, following his return from the United States of America, where he received a two-day novel treatment after the detection of cancerous cells. 

“The nation has woken up to the sad and shocking news that His Excellency, Hage G Geingob, had passed on last night. In honour of his memory and to allow for the mourning and burial of our President, you are hereby directed to cease all public campaign activities with immediate effect until a directive rescinding this is issued,” !Auchamus told her army of patriots. 

Reacting to the development, political commentator and Institute for Public Policy Research executive director Graham Hopwood described it as a bona fide gesture. 

“I think it’s a genuine gesture. The nation is in mourning. We have never had a president die in office before. So, I think it’s fitting. Normal politics can resume in a few weeks when the mourning period is over,” he added. 

Fellow pundit, political scientist Rui Tyitende took IPC’s decision with a grain of salt.  

“It would be highly inappropriate for anyone to exploit the death of the president for political expediency. I do not think or believe IPC would stoop that low, amidst a climate of national mourning. But one can never be too certain about politicians and their intentions and actions,” he stated. 

Her directive, however, came just a day after party president, dentist and lawyer-turned-politician Panduleni Itula launched their campaign ahead of the polls. 

On Saturday, he said party members and major stakeholders must redouble mobilisation and campaign efforts to win the upcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections, envisioned for November.

Itula was addressing hundreds of party members and sympathisers who gathered that afternoon in Windhoek’s informal settlement of Goreangab to witness the launch of the party’s Ground Mobilisation Commandos (GMC), as well as the handing-over of 16 new double-cab bakkies to the party’s regional coordinators.

He had observed that the party’s GMC play a key role in mobilising voters in the run-up to elections by reaching out to those at grassroots level, and ensuring that campaign materials have the capacity to stimulate electoral participation. 

“GMCs serve as a party’s liberation army, which not only intends to bolster the party’s ranks, but also serves an educational purpose, enlightening the public on the importance of participating in the upcoming presidential and national elections scheduled for November,” said the presidential hopeful.

“We are launching the most important, devastating army of the liberation struggle of the IPC. We want to continue recruitment and recruiting. As a political party, in terms of our laws, we have the responsibility to promote democratic elections in Namibia. This is the first political party that is truly living its expectation, as it is constructed to do so. No party in Namibia educated the Namibian people to understand the importance of casting their votes,” Itula added.

He furthermore used the platform to lay down the campaign ground rules by urging the GMCs to always be at their best behaviour when mobilising and campaigning for the party.

“We want our GMCs to go down in the history of Namibia as peacemakers; unity and purity is what you represent, as through purity, you respect and defend the humanity of everyone. We don’t have an enemy in politics, we are only contestants. We are only in the race together towards one goal, and that is to win the elections. We want to make sure that every citizen of this country understands their responsibility to cast their vote because they are the custodian of power to govern in Namibia, and not the governors. When you vote, you delegate your power to govern to the president, to make laws to the legislature, and that’s what we need to explain.  We also need to educate the people that for them to be able to vote, first they need to demonstrate that they are Namibian citizens, and only those who register would be able to do so,” Itula noted.

Meanwhile, !Auchamus announced that each regional coordinator will be empowered with a brand-new bakkie from the 16, coupled with N$2 000 worth of petrol. Each vehicle sports a tracking device and petrol card.

She said the fleet was bought with funds donated by party members, sympathisers
and followers. “We are certain that we already won the election. Our questions this time are with what margin. GMCs are there to engage with Namibians at the ground level, conduct civic education, and ensure that they are registered to vote,” !Aochamus reiterated.

She said since its inception, the IPC has been committed to extending its influence across all 14 regions. Therefore, it is the role of GMCs to engage in foundational work, establishing a network on the ground and consolidating its presence nationwide.

-lnashuuta@gmail.com