Steven Klukowski
KOËS – Landless People’s Movement (LPM) candidate for the upcoming Keetmanshoop rural constituency by-elections Willem Labuschagne said, if elected, he has no aspirations for fame and status, but will instead strive to uplift the local community from unemployment and poverty.
The by-election was necessitated after the LPM expelled former councillor for that constituency Gerrit Witbooi on 14 February 2023.
Speaking to New Era in the south-eastern village of Koës last week, he said: “For me, it will not be about securing a seat in the National Council or enjoy fame and entitlements if voted in power, but rather to support and capacitate the surrounding, less-fortunate community through skills development and training in order to become self-sufficient in life”. The current Koës village councillor continued that the party/person, who has been actively involved in developing the communities in Keetmanshoop rural constituency, will be the main factor in determining the respective votes, come by-elections day on 15 May 2023.
“Together with Koës village council chairperson Johannes Jansen, we started a garden project under Koës Agricultural Trust (KAT) with the aim of the community harvesting from the vegetable crops for own consumption and selling the rest to impoverished residents and school hostels at affordable prices as a means to generate much-needed income,” said Labuschagne.
He was, however, adamant that the main challenge faced by local authorities and the region as a whole is not that of infrastructure (land, resettlement farms and water) availability, but rather a lack of technical support and training resulting that prevents it from being used optimally.
“If this challenge can be addressed, then the burden on these institutions will be so much lighter in supporting and improving the community’s socio-economic conditions,” the politician reasoned. Other ongoing projects the LPM candidate is actively involved in the village are the 60/40 small-stock farming scheme, solar-powered water and electricity project for communal farmers, lucerne irrigation project at the sewerage point outside Koës, the allocation of serviced erven and a training centre for the unemployed.
“If all these initiatives are realised, the village council can also prosper in the process,” he said.
The small livestock scheme will make it possible that the council gets a portion of the off-springs to be invested back into the community, whilst farmers identified can then assist others as their livestock totals increase gradually, according to Labuschagne.
He added that in terms of the training facility, unemployed men can be provided with technical expertise in the fields of welding and auto-mechanical skills, whilst women can be trained in the areas of secretarial skills and hairdressing, which will enable these groups to secure possible employment opportunities in future.
The candidate then urged voters to mark their choice against his name on the day of elections, as the Landless People’s Movement is the only party talking about Namibia’s independence and beyond, whilst other parties are always referring to the colonial past.
- sklukowksi@nepc.com.na