Aletta Shikololo
Otniel Hembapu
The Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) has created a platform where party presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will engage with young people, instead of participating in “foreign” presidential debates with her opponents.
The platform, dubbed ‘Youth in Conversation with Netumbo’, is slated to start in Rundu this month, and will be held every month until elections.
The youth wing administrator, Tarah Shiwayu, said this platform is intended for the nation to ask the presidential candidate pertinent questions, and create a robust discussion between other stakeholders.
In May, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German political foundation, in partnership with The Namibian newspaper, hosted presidential debate in which five presidential hopefuls participated.
The debate was aimed at promoting the general robustness of democratic and political discourse, as well as public participation and readiness ahead of the upcomingPresidential and National Assembly elections.
In this discussion, the Swapo Party, along with other parties such as the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), Landless People’s Movement (LPM) and others also did not attend.
KAS promised to hold another debate before the elections to give a change to those who did not participate.
However, the SPYL said they would rather create their own platforms than be led by foreign leaders.
“This has been our plan, as we rejected the so-called presidential debate as organised in collaboration with foreign institutions trying to drive the Namibian narratives,” said Shiwayu.
The SPYL administrator said, “As Namibians, we are capable and ready to organise and host our own campaign platforms, but we can’t allow the foreigners to lead us”.
Shiwayu feels the previous debate would not allow their presidential candidate to thoroughly share her vision.
“We don’t feel like our candidate will have enough time to respond to whatever is going to be said on that platform, given the fact that, as a presidential debate, all other candidates are going to say something about Swapo and the government – and she might not even be able to manage and respond to whatever they are saying or mentioning what she wanted to say,” explained Shiwayu.
On this platform, the SPYL will also invite other government stakeholders, such as ministries, to answer questions relating to topics that pertain to their functions.
“For example, if people want answers on agriculture, she might not be able to have a specific answer on that matter. However, the ministry that is dealing with the matter must be able to answer to the people,” he said.
He reasons that Swapo governs the government.
“When the government doesn’t deliver anything, the nation blames Swapo, but when something is done and Swapo says we have done something, then people say its government,” he said, also adding that Nandi-Ndaitwah will on the platforms share her vision for the country should she be elected to power.
Approached for comment, the senior programme manager for KAS, Dennis Zaire, said while he does not have any comment on SPYL remarks, he said the presidential debate will still be hosted, and all political parties will be invited to participate.
Missed opportunity
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah opined that Nandi-Ndaitwah missing out on the presidential debate was unnecessary, and a missed opportunity to show she has what it takes to be the commander in chief.
He said many people are not aware of Nandi-Ndaitwah’s policies and agenda, and sees participating in the debate as a good opportunity for her to engage other presidential candidates.
“In any democracy, it is important for voters to have informed information in terms of political parties’ agenda and policy direction, so a presidential debate is one of the democratic tools to ensure platforms for such deliberations,” he said.
On the other hand, Kamwanyah also applauded the party for creating their own platforms to give voters access to the presidential candidate.
Groomed
While the journey to the presidential elections is already getting intense, Nandi-Ndaitwah, affectionately known as NNN, this week held a consultative meeting with Swapo stalwarts to get wisdom.
In attendance were President Nangolo Mbumba, veterans Helmuth Angula, Nahas Angula, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, Kanana Hishoono and many others.
“[Senior members] urged party members at all levels of structures countrywide to face the upcoming elections united, and advised that all energies, resources, focus and dedication must be directed towards ensuring victory for the party and its presidential candidate and national assembly elections,” said the party’s secretary general, Sophia Shaningwa.
Promises
Although most of the supporters that attended Swapo’s recent mass mobilisation meeting at Okahandja’s Oshetu 3 location were generally satisfied with the development, peace and stability the country enjoys, many still feel the party has some serious ‘troubleshooting’ to do to restore the confidence of the populace.
Swapo recently held its mass mobilisation drive at Okahandja’s Oshetu 3 location, where Kunene governor Marius Sheya was the keynote speaker.
There, this publication caught up with some of the party loyalists and sympathisers on the margins of the gathering, who all expressed diverse feelings about Swapo’s prospects going into this year’s watershed elections.
Rosalia Iyambo, a 53-year-old resident of the Five Rand informal settlement on the outskirts of Okahandja, said she has been voting for the past 30 years, and is generally happy with the level of development, peace and stability the country has enjoyed since independence, but said more needs to be done to fully address the plight of all Namibians.
“I came here today to hear what our leaders are saying, especially about job creation and other opportunities for myself and our children. I have been living in Five Rand for the past 13 years – and still, up to this day, we don’t have a mobile clinic or police station to help the community in times of need,” she said.
Five Rand, also known as Vyf Rand in Afrikaans, is home to one of the poorest communities in Namibia, and has been the focus of various social upliftment projects, such as soup kitchens, orphanage centres, HIV/AIDS awareness programmes and community garden projects.
“I will continue to vote for Swapo because it is the only party I trust with this country’s future. It has done well in most areas, but I must admit that there were also times when Swapo disappointed us. When you look at the Fishrot issue, high unemployment and lack of decent houses for the people, those are all problem areas – and they need to do something about them. Fishrot was bad, and the amount of money that went missing was huge, but now Swapo must prove to us that it is a transformed party with zero tolerance for corruption,” added Iyambo, who was among the first people to arrive at the meeting venue.
Home
Another attendee, Thomas Tjomuini of the Ekunde informal settlement, said while he was happy to hear Sheya’s solid promises, and admit to them that the Swapo-led government has shortcomings in some areas of development, he more importantly wants to see the party walking the talk.
“Swapo is my home. That is why I’m always at these events, and helping when mobilisation is needed. I have listened to our leader, governor Sheya, and it is good to hear him admit that more still needs to be done to address our problems. Here, at Okahandja, we have a serious sanitation problem – and our councillor [Bethuel Tjaveondja] is also here, and we made it clear to them that we want services to be delivered, not just talk because it is an election year.
“All these people came here because they are still loyal to Swapo, but Swapo must also remain loyal to us through service delivery and job creation. Our young people need work, please, our leaders,” pleaded Tjomuini, a self-employed father of three.
Although she faces internal opposition from certain quarters, NNN is Swapo’s flagbearer and poster child in this year’s elections.
-ashikololo@nepc.com.na