SWAKOPMUND – Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa has urged the Namibian youth to hold on to the Swapo party, as it is the only party they can trust.

Shaningwa made the appeal on Thursday when she was addressing the party’s Erongo leadership in various structures at the party offices in Swakopmund as part of her working visits to the party’s regional structures.

“The youth must put their trust in the Swapo party. They must come back so that we sort out our issues at home. They must not leave the party, as it is the only party they can fully trust that can take the country forward,” she said when asked by journalists how the party intends to address the results of the regional and local authority elections last year.

Swapo lost both the Walvis Bay Rural and Urban constituencies as well as the Swakopmund constituency and only secured two seats in the Walvis Bay Local Authority and three seats in the Swakopmund Local Authority.

Most youth at the two towns indicated they lost faith in Swapo and chose not to vote or voted for opposition parties.

Shaningwa further said her visits aim to look at the challenges the party is faced with and restore the faith of its members, especially the youth. “My visit is to look at all these issues and to re-energise and tackle issues experienced by the party at regional level as well as to start mobilising new members for the party. That is why we are here; we want to know why the youth are losing faith in the Swapo party,” Shaningwa said.

She added the leadership also presented their challenges – both negative and positive – and that all concerns will be addressed internally.