By Kuvee Kangueehi
Windhoek
Acting Chairperson of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), Jesaya Nyamu, says the new party is expected to hold its first congress mid next year to elect a new leadership.
Addressing a press conference at his residence in Ludwigsdorf, Nyamu said the party is managed by volunteers because it does not want to appoint leaders without elections, as it is a democratic party.
He, however, noted that the first public rally of RDP would take place on Saturday at the Independence Arena in Katutura. He said the event would be a historic one and only second to the independence of Namibia.
Nyamu invited the Namibian people to attend the public rally in big numbers in order to listen to the policy and be acquainted with the constitution of the new party.
He did not disclose the names of the speakers, but promised that more details about the party would be made public soon.
Nyamu denied allegations that the party has received N$60 million from the Swedish government. He said the party is currently struggling and does not have funds to run effectively and depends on donations from supporters and sympathisers.
“We want the party to remain a Namibian party without foreign funding and be sustained by funds from Namibians.”
Nyamu challenged the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL), who made the allegation, to produce proof.
He urged supporters, members and sympathisers to donate money to the party and vowed that the funds will be accounted for and that the party will be transparent.
He however noted that the party is being strategic now and would not reveal all information in order to keep the Swapo Party guessing.
“The time will come that we will be more transparent because if we are open, we will be exposed and the opponents will destroy us.”
Nyamu left the media to continue guessing about the other senior Swapo Party members that will join his party and said people can continue speculating and that some of the speculation is correct.
Nyamu also made a mild apology for denying New Era information about the registration of the party and said he believed that he needed to deny the story because he feared that the Swapo Party and its agents would block the registration of the party.
The former deputy minister of mines and energy and later minister of trade and industry admitted that as minister he did not do enough to address the problems that the country faces.
Nyamu could not give the Namibian people a guarantee that he will perform better once he is once again given a portfolio to lead, but noted that he can only make an undertaking.
Nyamu noted that he had thought that the Namibian Government was one of the best governments in SADC as he was never really in touch with ordinary people.
“As ministers, we used to spend most of our time in offices signing papers and never really got to know the problems our people are facing.”
But Nyamu said looking at the country outside government, he sees a completely different picture, saying the Namibian education system is poor and the country cannot compete with many of the SADC countries.
“What has Nahas (Angula) been doing at education, we are three steps behind Botswana and as a country, we cannot compete with other SADC countries.”
He warned that Namibia is heading the Zimbabwe way unless some drastic measures are taken sooner than later to change the situation.
“We are sliding down and we need a change whether for better or worse.”
Nyamu denied allegations that his party is made up of disgruntled leaders and said they did not only start talking now but also for years expressed their different views within the party.
He noted that they fought in Swapo until they could no longer stay in the party. This was a tough decision for some of them who had spent decades in the party to just move out of it.
He said the Swapo Party President Sam Nujoma had a “special talent” – he will always admit his mistakes only to repeat them again.
The press conference at Nyamu’s house was attended by other party members such as Kandy Nehova, Shapua Kaukungwa and Festus Naholo.