KATIMA MULILO – The leader of the official opposition party PDM, McHenry Venaani, vowed that he will work tirelessly to fight tribalism in Zambezi, which he say paints a bad image of the region. Venaani made these remarks when he officially opened a capacity building workshop, for the regional leaders from the eight north and northeast regions in Katima Mulilo last Friday.
Venaani stated that national leaders should advocate towards ensuring that residents of Zambezi work towards starting a genuine and meaningful reconciliation effort towards the future.
“I will start a peaceful initiative. Whether it will take us three-four or five years, it is an initiative that I am willing to start. To start a true dialogue of peace, repelling of reconciliation in the region,” said Venaani.
At the same occasion, Venaani called the government to work towards strengthening Intra-African Trade with other African countries, which he says will ease the burden on African consumers.
“A bag of maize meal in Zambia, just across the river, costs N$100. Here on the other side of the river it is N$175. So it is cheaper to buy maize from Zambia and people from this region can be better-off if they are allowed to trade with Zambians, and they could buy maize for a cheaper prize,” said Venaani.
He also explained the strategic workshop was organised in order to deliberate on strategies that could help in sourcing votes from Namibian communities in the northern regions. He also called on those who have given up hope to exercise their right to vote when the time comes.
“I want to urge Namibians that no vote is no solution to the vote. Because the no vote will be able to manifest the current ruling party to remain the ruling party, we are saying we are urging thousands of Namibians to vote differently, to vote for this movement, because we are able to deliver the change that is needed,” said Venaani.