Swapo must embrace change

There appears to be no serious battle of ideas in the ruling party at the moment as the comrades gear up for the much-anticipated national congress that will elect a new leadership in November. Swapo has struggled to move away from the traditional way of doing things. The party has clearly not yet embraced change and this is evident from the manner in which it is being run. Despite having the financial means and the resources at its disposal to set the agenda on a number of issues relevant to the situation in the country, the party has not been proactive enough. Both old and young have adopted a lax attitude towards bread and butter issues and only resurface with new promises when it is election time. The party is no longer setting the agenda, especially in parliament where lively debate should be the norm. The party leaders are committing some terrible mistakes in government and there is no internal noise about it. Even the young and budding politicians have all of a sudden become political vuvuzelas and are only there to fight the battles of the elders instead of representing the masses of unemployed and downtrodden youth in Namibia. No serious attention is given to job creation, public healthcare and education amongst other priority areas. With so many problems facing our nation, it is incumbent upon the youth leaders to provide direction to the top political and government leadership in order to move our country forward. These young people are educated and are aware of their needs in society and thus should not use petty politicking to sabotage the dreams and aspirations of the thousands of youths looking up to them for leadership in this country. As the race intensifies for the party presidency and other leading positions at stake at this year's congress, the battle of ideas must take precedence before petty politicking. Prospective candidates must come up with innovative, fresh and proactive ideas to run this country. We respect the fact that Swapo is a liberation movement, but times have changed now and it is no longer relevant to keep some archaic and obsolete traditions alive.