Africa-Press – Namibia. Grootfontein residents said they are growing tired of unfulfilled election promises and are hoping that those being elected to office will not only pay lip service but embark upon delivering tangible change.
These were their mixed demands, aspirations and frustrations expressed after casting their votes in yesterday’s by-election across various polling stations in the town, where they went out in great numbers to vote for a new constituency councillor.
With Swapo’s former Grootfontein constituency councillor Elder Filipe now a member of Parliament, yesterday’s by-election saw numerous political parties fielding their candidates to contest for the vacant seat.
Grootfontein is characterised by high youth unemployment, slow development, lack of basic services such as water, electricity and affordable land for many of the inhabitants.
Sarafina Garises, an unemployed 48-year-old mother of four, said she has been voting in all forms of national elections since the 90s but those elected to serve and be the voice of the downtrodden in her community quickly forget about them once they take office.
“These politicians have made it a habit to come to us when they need the votes and once they are elected into office, we never get to see or hear from them.
As much as we come out here to vote with the hope of a better tomorrow, it is very discouraging to note that we remain is the same deplorable conditions,” said Garises, a resident of Grootfontein’s Kap en Bou informal settlement.
Her frustrations were echoed by Petrus Mulunga, a 57-year-old self-employed father of eight who resides at the town’s Buite Kamp informal settlement.
Mulunga was particularly concerned with the lack of job opportunities in the town, saying more should be done by the political leadership to diversify the town’s economy to attract investors and bring hope to the town’s young people, whom he said have now turned to drugs and other substances.
“I braved the cold and was amongst the first people to arrive at the polling station. I’m a sickly person but I need to be here in order to exercise my democratic right of voting the right person into office. Through our votes, we are calling on the leadership to look into the affairs of our youth,” Mulunga appealed.
Battlefield
Grootfontein is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats. The 2015 local authority election was won by Namibia’s ruling Swapo party, which gained five seats from 2,019 votes.
One seat each went to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) with 546 votes and the All Peoples Party (APP) with 154 votes.
Swapo also managed to win the 2020 local authority election, obtaining 1,727 votes and gaining four seats. The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 653 votes to get two seats. The remaining seat went to the PDM, which had garnered 309 votes.
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