RUNDU - The All People’s Party said it has started in earnest with preparations for the local and regional authority elections that will be held in November this year. 

The party also said it has tasked its senior members to come up with a plan in order to strengthen the party at grassroots level. 

“We have realised that there are weaknesses at those structures at ground level,  so they must work to strengthen those structures as well as to build these structures,” APP president Ignatius Shixwameni told the media at Rundu recently. 

“We are focusing on the preparations for the local and regional authority elections.”  Shixwameni further called on the rank and file APP members to ensure that all structures are strenghthened before the November polls.

 “Regions, constituencies and towns start preparing now, starting with the identification of candidates who will be standing in the constituencies. We also need to draw up a list already of those candidates that are going to stand for local authority elections,” he said. 

The former Swapo youth activist also claimed that most local authorities were not well run in the country, adding the mismanagement of resources was frustrating the electorate countrywide. 

“As APP, we are saying that we must go in there to save this nation from going further down the doldrums. We must elect councillors who will be capable of rescuing  situations at those local authorities, we want our towns to be run properly and clean throughout the country,” he said. 

Shixwameni also spoke out against the Swapo Rundu leadership who are divided over the town councillors. 
 “If you look at the situation in Rundu, it is one filthy town. I am actually ashamed to walk around here. It is like there is no town council in place. People in this town cannot be suffering because Swapo councillors cannot agree on how to run the town,” he said. 

“We should be able as Rundu residents demand that Swapo fire such councillors immediately so that we get a working town council and then get a CEO and senior staff members to work. This is one of the biggest and fastest growing towns in the country but look at the management of the council, we cannot allow such a situation to continue.”