Itula pokes holes in Harambee plan
Independent presidential candidate Panduleni Itula says rival Hage Geingob's much-vaunted Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) failed because it was pushed down people's throats.
The ruling party Swapo was not consulted on this plan, the dentist claimed during a meeting at Rundu on Sunday.
About 200 Rundu residents, mostly the young people, were in attendance at the Rundu Secondary School sports stadium.
Itula labelled Geingob as a leader with a dictatorial mind-set.
“As soon as he was elected, within a short period of time from somewhere something came called Harambee. Nowhere did the journalists record a meeting of the Politburo or the Swapo Party Central Committee where a policy called Harambee Prosperity Plan was ever adopted,” Itula said.
“Now, you should have questioned that as citizens because it was someone you elected to lead you and decided to throw away what the party members had chosen, their manifesto, and imposed upon the nation a prosperity plan.
“There is no other way of describing it other than the tendency of dictators. They always impose things on the people which they think is good.”
Itula, who indicated that he aligned his “people's manifesto” with the goals and objectives of Vision 2030, claimed that all other initiatives that followed failed because of either poor leadership or the system of leadership.
“I have got what I call a people's manifesto; this is a blueprint for the socioeconomic development of Namibia but I have not gone and reinvented the wheel, I have relied on Vision 2030,” Itula argued.
“We are very good at coming up with policies and Harambee and then they fail, why? When you've got a government that is not delivering on the needs of the people and then you ask yourself a question, is it the people in leadership or the system in leadership, or is it both of them that are failing the people? Once you have established that, then you need to change and that changes with the leadership.”
Itula's promises
Itula, who read out his manifesto, shared with the audience his aims and objectives if elected to occupy the highest office in the land.
He promised that he would only occupy State House once the close to a million Namibians who live in informal settlements are provided with sanitation, water and electricity.
“When you elect me as your fourth president of the Republic of Namibia, I shall not occupy State House until all the informal settlements where Namibians live have sanitation, water and electricity,” Itula said.
On the issue of land, Itula said residential plots would be available for as little as N$1 000. Either the labour or the material needed for building houses would be paid for by the state and upon completion of the house, the homeowner would not be allowed to sell it to a third party but only to the state.
Another promise he made was to fight corruption. Itula said his first six months in office would be spent on tracing the whereabouts of the public money that had gone missing over the years.
Itula also said he would merge several government ministries to reduce them to 12, and would abolish the positions of deputy ministers.
KENYA KAMBOWE
The ruling party Swapo was not consulted on this plan, the dentist claimed during a meeting at Rundu on Sunday.
About 200 Rundu residents, mostly the young people, were in attendance at the Rundu Secondary School sports stadium.
Itula labelled Geingob as a leader with a dictatorial mind-set.
“As soon as he was elected, within a short period of time from somewhere something came called Harambee. Nowhere did the journalists record a meeting of the Politburo or the Swapo Party Central Committee where a policy called Harambee Prosperity Plan was ever adopted,” Itula said.
“Now, you should have questioned that as citizens because it was someone you elected to lead you and decided to throw away what the party members had chosen, their manifesto, and imposed upon the nation a prosperity plan.
“There is no other way of describing it other than the tendency of dictators. They always impose things on the people which they think is good.”
Itula, who indicated that he aligned his “people's manifesto” with the goals and objectives of Vision 2030, claimed that all other initiatives that followed failed because of either poor leadership or the system of leadership.
“I have got what I call a people's manifesto; this is a blueprint for the socioeconomic development of Namibia but I have not gone and reinvented the wheel, I have relied on Vision 2030,” Itula argued.
“We are very good at coming up with policies and Harambee and then they fail, why? When you've got a government that is not delivering on the needs of the people and then you ask yourself a question, is it the people in leadership or the system in leadership, or is it both of them that are failing the people? Once you have established that, then you need to change and that changes with the leadership.”
Itula's promises
Itula, who read out his manifesto, shared with the audience his aims and objectives if elected to occupy the highest office in the land.
He promised that he would only occupy State House once the close to a million Namibians who live in informal settlements are provided with sanitation, water and electricity.
“When you elect me as your fourth president of the Republic of Namibia, I shall not occupy State House until all the informal settlements where Namibians live have sanitation, water and electricity,” Itula said.
On the issue of land, Itula said residential plots would be available for as little as N$1 000. Either the labour or the material needed for building houses would be paid for by the state and upon completion of the house, the homeowner would not be allowed to sell it to a third party but only to the state.
Another promise he made was to fight corruption. Itula said his first six months in office would be spent on tracing the whereabouts of the public money that had gone missing over the years.
Itula also said he would merge several government ministries to reduce them to 12, and would abolish the positions of deputy ministers.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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