LÜDERITZ – Residents of Lüderitz last Friday night bade farewell to the town’s former mayor Emelia Amupewa, who is heading for the National Assembly.
Amupewa who is a member of Swapo Party served as Lüderitz mayor from 1997 to 2010. She is 66th on the Swapo Party parliamentary list.
Amupewa earned a seat in parliament following last year’s presidential and National Assembly polls overwhelmingly won by Swapo and its presidential candidate Dr Hage Geingob.
Friends, business people and fellow Swapo members organised the farewell party for Amupewa.
During her tenure as mayor she oversaw the integration into a single unit of two race-based chambers of business, which were segregated into one for blacks and another for whites.
Speaker after speaker at the glittering farewell function sang praises for Amupewa describing her as a hard and dedicated worker who promoted the interests of her community.
Manu Namukomba the chairman of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in Lüderitz explained the role Amupewa played during the difficult time when Lüderitz had two racially divided chambers.
She was the second mayor of Lüderitz and excelled at all projects she embarked upon. Under her leadership the local authority undertook numerous capital projects, including the construction of industrial roads to Pescanova and Seaflower.
With the help of the European Union (EU) and the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development they were able to construct a state-of-the-art sewerage dam on the way to Agate Beach.
Under her tenure a new sports field that serves as a recreation facility was constructed, which encourages young men and women to partake in sport and refrain from drugs.
She also oversaw the establishment of a mayoral fund with the aim to assist needy communities in her town and initiated the Lüderitz Crayfish Festival to serve as a platform to promote the town to both local, regional and international visitors.
“My life’s determination is to serve the Namibian people,” said Amupewa about her new role as a lawmaker after being sworn in this month.
She stressed that her new role as MP is not to forget where she came from, or to forget the men and women in the streets hoping for a better life.
“The challenge for us as new lawmakers is to deliver towards the prosperous economic growth of our country,” stressed Amupewa. She also encouraged the youth to prepare themselves to take over the leadership of Namibia.