LPM yet to register party

Leaders of the Landless People's Movement (LPM) say although the organisation is yet to be registered with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), it is a political party for “all intents and purposes” and will enter the 2019 and 2020 elections in all seriousness.

Bernadus Swartbooi at a press briefing on Monday said the LPM had a “strong and growing presence” in 11 regions and had registered 3 500 members in seven regions.

He said the LPM was in discussion with five other political parties, as well as traditional authorities, while it was working on programmes to strengthen its policy dimension.

He would not divulge the names of the parties the LPM is in discussion with, saying various possibilities of cooperation and forms of participating in the elections were still being hashed out.

“We in the LPM are not here for a joke,” he commented, adding: “We are about taking over the government.”

The LPM said it would particularly focus its energy on the regional council and local authority elections.

Swartbooi said services at local authorities should be “re-municipalised”, brought back to local level, where services should be “in-sourced instead of outsourced” and councillors and other government agencies should be answerable to communities they serve.

“In [earlier] days municipalities used to build roads, houses, and so on. Local authority leaders were more responsive to the needs of the people on the ground. Not today,” he said.



Intimidation and vote-rigging allegations

Swartbooi said “operatives of the regime” and even governors were trying to lure LPM supporters away with promises such as reconsideration of applications for veteran status, fishing quotas, promotions and government jobs.

“As if fishing quotas and other resources belong to Swapo Party,” Swartbooi commented.

He said: “They [Swapo] are losing members at a rapid rate,” and added: “We are aware that what Swapo loses on the ground they will want to rig through elections.”

Swartbooi said the LPM was also talking to other political parties about the use of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), which he said were rumoured to be “manipulated by Indian technicians” for “predetermined” electoral outcomes.

“The call for a paper trail for these machines could very well be a trap in which the paper trail replicates results that have already been engineered by Indian technicians. We are investigating this and will bring in technical people to look at this matter as well,” Swartbooi said.

He said the LPM was not suggesting that individuals at the ECN were “accomplices in vote rigging and manipulating the outcomes”.

“We are saying we are alive to the possibilities that will be sharpened, lives that may be threatened, in order to bring about a certain outcome,” he said.

Swartbooi said there were also rumours that the LPM “will be given one seat so that hungry Swartbooi” can be silenced.

“We are told that the executive will give us one seat in parliament. We are not aware that the executive dictates outcomes of elections,” Swartbooi said.



Threatening

The LPM leaders also said they – if voted in – would flush out corrupt politicians and their family members that have benefitted from corruption.

“We are not going to blink because we cannot allow this country to become a Zimbabwe first and then want to reform things thereafter. This country is in a mess that is so profound that those that created the mess do not even know how to get out of it.

That is why we are saying it is chaila time,” Swartbooi said.

CATHERINE SASMAN