Rudolf Gaiseb
Just less than two weeks after its dismal electoral performance, a perfect storm is brewing within the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM).
The party now finds itself in a tight spot, a situation which has allegedly forced the official opposition in the National Assembly (NA) to vacate its rented offices in Windhoek West, one of Windhoek’s affluent residential areas. The party, New Era understands, is no longer able to pay the monthly N$40 000 bill, less than a fortnight after losing 11 NA seats.
The PDM became the official opposition party in Parliament in 2019 after getting 16 seats then. The party’s representation has now been reduced to only five seats.
What is more, an internal coup is allegedly being plotted by the bigwigs to topple the top leadership of the party, whom they accuse of being responsible for the party’s electoral and financial misfortunes.
“The central committee will convene soon, and one of the things on the agenda is to remove the top nine leaders, if not the majority of them,” an insider said.
Financial woes
Some party members have attributed the downfall of the party to the mismanagement of funds.
It is alleged that the party has run out of funds after outsourcing campaign materials and vehicle fleets.
At the heart of the brouhaha is party leader McHenry Venaani, who is accused of micro-managing the party during the just-ended campaign period by being involved in the ordering of campaign materials without consulting other leaders.
He is also accused of renting a vehicle and bodyguards, and taking teams of researchers around the country during the campaign process, which some members felt was too costly for the party.
It has furthermore been alleged that party agents and election observers are yet to be paid, while the party vacates the building it has been renting for five years.
Meanwhile, the party’s national executive committee (NEC) is expected to convene this week to deliberate on the issue.
Response
In an interview this week, Venaani denied the allegations, but confirmed PDM’s financial problems.
“The party is undergoing a serious financial problem, but financial problems are not new to us. We are working around the clock to mitigate the crisis. But the crisis was not caused by me ordering materials,” he said.
Venaani retorted that he did not authorise the use of even a single cent during the campaign.
“I don’t sit on the financial committee; I don’t work with finances. I don’t instruct financiers. There is a particular financial committee that runs the organisation,” he stated.
The seasoned politician also denied ordering campaign materials, and that the materials ordered in no way contributed to the party’s financial problems.
Venaani said he refused to use his State-sponsored vehicle for party activities, as that would have been an abuse of public resources, something he is against. “Therefore, there was a need to rent a vehicle. A single vehicle,” he added.
Moving on to the party agents’ issue, he said no budgetary provision was made for them.
“Party agents cost the party close to N$2 million. There was never a budget for them. Every election, we always struggle with party agents to mitigate the problem. Party agents will be paid. They always get paid. But we will have to find resources to pay them,” he said.
Venaani continued that the party will go through a review process to determine which assets to keep, and which to let go of because of the financial situation they are in.
“Every organisation that goes through an election campaign, a ferocious election campaign like the one we had, and in which we have lost a number of seats, must sit and reflect on what it used to have, and what it is going to have in the future. We can’t run a normal process while we know that our funding is going to be cut,” Venaani said, before dismissing any allegations of mismanagement.
Party funding
For the current financial year, political parties represented in both the NA and the National Council (NC) will get a combined N$181 million.
The earmarked amount was revealed by deputy finance minister Maureen Hinda-Mbuende when she motivated the ministry’s budget earlier this year.
She said the allocation serves several important purposes within the democratic framework of Namibia.
“Firstly, the allocation supports the functioning of political parties as essential components of a vibrant democracy. Political parties play a crucial role in representing diverse interests, articulating policy positions and engaging citizens in the political process. The allocation ensures that political parties have the resources necessary to carry out their activities, including organising campaigns, conducting outreach and participating in electoral processes,” she noted at the time.
“Secondly, the allocation promotes inclusivity and participation in the political landscape by providing support to a range of political parties,” she added.
The allocation is an increase from the N$149.5 million parties received from Treasury during the 2023/2024 financial year. In the 2022/2023 year, parties got N$103.9 million.
Parties receive funds from Treasury based on the number of seats they have in the NA and NC.
At the moment, a seat in any of the parliamentary Houses earns a party over N$1.5 million annually.
Last year, Swapo received N$97.5 million, while the official opposition, the PDM, received N$19.5 million. Bernadus Swartbooi’s Landless People’s Movement received N$10.8 million.
Other parties, such as the United Democratic Front, pocketed N$4.3 million, while the National Unity Democratic Organisation collected N$3.2 million.
The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) under the stewardship of dentist and lawyer Panduleni Itula, the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters and All People’s Party each received N$2.2 million.
Prohibited
Additionally, Section 157 of the Electoral Act prohibits funds allocated to a political party from being used directly or indirectly to pay any remuneration, fee, reward or other benefit to any person representing the political party in Parliament, any regional council or local authority council, and who holds any other office of profit at any institution.
Furthermore, Article 140 of the Electoral Act instructs political parties to submit records and audited financial reports to the Electoral Commission of Namibia at the end of each financial year.
In terms of declarations of assets and liabilities, political parties are expected to conform to Article 139 of the Electoral Act.
However, most political parties have not been complying with the Act, and they have been accused of diverting taxpayers’ funds to pay off loans for some party leaders, buy family members cars, and pay themselves second salaries, as well as adding associates to the party’s payroll without clear terms of reference.
For instance, the IPC allegedly bought over 100 vehicles for more than N$50 million. The party never explained, publicly, how it secured the said funds.
Parties like Swapo have constructed offices to the tune of N$700 million. It is still not clear how this building was financed.
Meanwhile, the PDM is said to be paying Venaani a second salary with public money. Over the past five years, political parties received N$592 million from Treasury.
Between 2015 and 2020, taxpayers gifted political parties a combined N$679.5 million.