Africa-Press – Namibia. SWAPO secretary general Sophia Shaningwa’s warning that Swapo would lose popularity if it fails to fund low-cost projects has been dismissed by opposition parties as a political gimmick.
Shaningwa on Saturday called on the government to fix what she termed the “low-hanging fruits” first, before considering expensive projects that cost millions of dollars.
“I am saying if you don’t have a lot of money to make sure big projects are completed, look at low-hanging fruits. That’s water, kindergartens, schools, and earth dams,” Shaningwa said during a party rally at Katutura.
“Go low because our people are not asking for much, they are asking for small things,” she said.
Swapo’s chief administrator said the party risks becoming unpopular with the electorate if the government fails to fund low-cost projects that benefit ordinary Namibians.
“At the government level, we must do our part in the smallest way we can afford,” she said, while calling on finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi to consider financing smaller projects first.
She was addressing Swapo members and formally introduced the party’s candidate for the Moses /Garoëb constituency by-election scheduled for 6 January.
Opposition parties have, however, dismissed Shaningwa’s statement as electioneering.
Manuel Ngaringombe, the secretary general of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), described the statement as “poor politicking” by Swapo.
“The Ministry of Finance is part of the government, and Swapo is the government. They cannot do just smaller projects like the PDM is doing.
“What they should do must be huge projects, well planned by the government to change people’s lives. It cannot just be smaller things as those parties that are not in the government,” he said.
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) national spokesperson Immanuel Nashinge said Shaningwa’s statement is Swapo’s attempt to obtain votes.
“The ruling party is used to just playing those tactics, especially when it comes to elections. They always find it easy to sing songs that sound good in the ears of the poor and the electorate.
“For their secretary general to utter such a statement is not genuine at all,” he said.
Nashinge said Shaningwa’s call for the government to prioritise people’s needs means the ruling party is heeding what the opposition has been saying.
“It is good that they are listening to what we are proposing. Maybe what we should see is for them to take action and implement it, because they make the final decision as far as implementation is concerned,” he said.
“As we speak, our former mayor of Swakopmund, now regional councillor for Swakopmund constituency, has implemented and put into action a gardening project to benefit the people of DRC. And that was done within a short period of time.
“Definitely, if the current regime was not detached from reality, so much could have been achieved. But they opt to put everything on tender, even activities that don’t need to be put on tender.”
The deputy president of the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF), Kalimbo Iipumbu, also weighed in on Shaningwa’s statement.
“Looking at Swapo’s continued utterances, one may really understand that the current administration has zero understanding when it comes to the upliftment of the living standards of the people.
“Namibia for the past 32 years has been under the administration of Swapo, of which one has to ask whether Swapo has done its best to uplift the living standards of the people,” he said.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
