RUNDU – DTA president McHenry Venaani says his party is going to be a leadership of change rather than the legacy of continuation because according to him “the Swapo legacy has failed.”
Venaani made the remarks during the DTA rally held at Rundu on Saturday at Dr Romanus Kampungu sports stadium where DTA members and supporters flocked in numbers to listen to him.
He said he was ashamed that some candidates are saying the Swapo legacy should continue and instead Venaani says he is going to be a presidential candidate to discontinue the Swapo legacy. “I am going to be a transformational leader that will change things in Namibia. We cannot promote a legacy that has made 75 percent of young Namibians without jobs, that has made Kavango and Zambezi regions the poorest in this country. That legacy under Venaani shall not be maintained, we are going to change it for the better,” he said.
“Rundu has seen a very large influx of Asian nationals that are taking over our jobs with one child of a minister getting a (Chinese) bursary – manual Chinese are allowed in Namibia,” Venaani charged.
“If Namibians apply to go and become manual labourers in China they are not going to be allowed in that country, if you apply to be a manual labourer in England you will not be allowed in that country. Why should we allow (foreign) manual labourers in this country if our own people are not having jobs in their country of birth? DTA is going to be a leadership of change, we are going to change the legacy because the legacy has failed,” Venaani said in reference to Swapo’s appeal to voters to continue with its legacy of continuity so that its projects are not disrupted.
“Every election ministers run around Kavango making promises of course, but five years later where are the jobs? Why make new promises if the old promises have not been fulfilled?” the DTA leader queried.
“I am going to create under our administration, together with my leadership, vocational training. We should promote vocational training that will have academic excellence so that young Namibians can be trained to be able to build buildings.
“When big tenders for government buildings are coming in Kavango, the tenderers are people from outside. Doesn’t the Kavango have enough young people with the necessary skills to build?”
“DTA is going to make sure that vocational training is given to young people so that when the tenders come to this region, our young people will be the beneficiaries,” he said.
By John Muyamba
He noted that although the Kavango has a perennial river, it still has the most expensive water bills.
Under a DTA-led government, one of the priorities would thus be to subsidise water so that poor people can afford water, he said.
The party will likewise “ensure better services at state hospitals”.
“Twenty-four years after independence, sick patients are transported by oxen because they have failed to provide ambulances,” he said.