Africa-Press – Namibia. DESPITE his views on the conduct of president Hage Geingob and the ruling party Swapo, Landless People’s Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi says he has no choice but to work with the party for the betterment of society.
Swartbooi said this after his closed-door meeting with president Hage Geingob at State House yesterday in a move to mend their once-cordial relationship which turned sour in 2016.
The meeting was the first between the two politicians since Swartbooi was fired by Geingob in 2017 as the deputy minister of land reform.
Swartbooi went on to establish the LPM that year.
After yesterday’s meeting, he said his view that Geingob and Swapo were not capable of leading the country has not changed.
He said his view that the ruling party has corrupted the country has not changed.
However, for the purposes of development, he has no choice but to work with Swapo to deliver services to the Namibian people who have voted for the LPM.
“There is no change of mind. It doesn’t help to say people are corrupt therefore you won’t work with them. We have been clear that we can sit with anybody who wants to develop the country… after the politics is done, we have to govern,” he said.
He said his meeting with Geingob demonstrates he is willing to set politics aside and mend their relationship to resolve national problems.
“The politics will always be there, but what are we supposed to say after four years? We want all of us to go and say to the people of Namibia we have done so and so, and your lives have visibly been changed. Our effort is going to pay off well for the people of this country,” he said.
Apart from reiterating his stance on Swapo, the LPM leader said he asked the president to call for a genocide conference which should exclusively be attended by the descendants of the affected communities.
This conference, Swartbooi said, should iron out the differences that exist between the position of the government and the affected communities on the genocide negotiations.
“We will wait and see what his [Geingob’s] final decision will be. I think significant gaps remain in terms of where the government is, but some of the issues raised in the meeting can be overcome if there is dialogue, and if the president accedes to our request to have a genocide conference,” he said.
Swartbooi said the meeting also discussed issues related to the Neckartal Dam “that has sufficient water and where agriculture has not kicked off”.
According to him, the LPM has proposed that the irrigation projects to be implemented at the dam must be inclusive of the local communities.
The government should not only implement a public private partnership approach, he said.
“It must include the regional council, which is the principal governing body of that region. The president agreed with us. We proposed to the president that we must look at the possibility of sharing the land.
“For example, 2 500 hectares to the regional council and 2 500 hectares to the government to do their part. We also proposed a different irrigation system to be looked at and for the Hardap region to gain 1 500 hectares of land,” he said.
Swartbooi also wants the government to review the land reform and resettlement programme, because it has failed, he said.
In addition, the government must also ‘urgently’ address the plight of the San communities in the Omaheke region, who he said are suffering from starvation because they don’t have land.
He also asked for the cancellation of a debt of more than N$250 million which some local authorities owe NamPower.
“We are reaching out because we all campaign. Elections are over and we have to govern.
“We need each other for discussions, the planning of projects and implementation. We shouldn’t fear to disagree, and where we disagree, we iron out issues. Politics must be set aside and we must focus on doing what is necessary for the people,” he said.
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