WINDHOEK – Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) has expressed concern over the awarding of lucrative government construction tenders to foreigners, specifically to big Chinese companies.

The Swapo youth wing concerns follow a newspaper advert that shows that most of the companies shortlisted for the construction of the Windhoek airport dual carriageway are mostly Chinese companies.

SPYL secretary Ephraim Nekongo in a statement on Saturday said they have instructed the government to stop the bidding and restart the entire process so that Namibian companies can participate.

He added that conditions on all government projects should be relaxed and tailor-made to suit Namibian companies.  
“We condemn in the strongest terms the awarding of construction and all other economic opportunities to foreigners, more especially Chinese companies by our government,” he said.

He said the youth wing leadership has been constantly engaging ministers on a variety of issues facing the youth and citizens since they came to power.

“One of the issues we have been engaging the leadership constantly has been the economic situation of the country and economic opportunities to benefit all Namibians,” he said.

Nekongo says after discussion with their seniors they believe that things will normalise in terms of awarding of tenders and economic opportunities to Namibians. “We see the awarding of jobs and tenders to foreigners and more especially Chinese as a blatant indication that our diplomatic and genuine approach in addressing issues facing Namibians with deployed party functionaries will not change [things] until we change our way as SPYL,” he said.

Nekongo says they have also directed the government to hold ministers and deployed cadres accountable going forward in terms of economic opportunities.

He also invited the youth to join him for a peaceful demonstration organised by Manwu and the NCCI for tomorrow in solidarity with Namibian entrepreneurs and workers.