New era for Namibia

2004-11-11 15:36

Maggie Barnard

Windhoek - Whatever happens at the polls next week, Namibia will be entering a new era - one without Sam Nujoma as president.

Nujoma, who has governed the country since independence in 1990, is stepping down as head-of-state but will remain as president of the ruling Swapo party for another three years.

Although indications are that Swapo can expect a landslide victory, the fourth general and presidential elections will take place against the backdrop of severe in-fighting within party circles.

Backstabbing and personal attacks on members are flying in an email smear campaign that started after Swapo's special congress to select its presidential candidate in May.

Three candidates were nominated, but Nujoma set the cat among the pigeons when he dismissed one of them, Foreign Affairs Minister Hidipo Hamutenya, a few days before the congress without offering any reasons for his decision. His candidate, Hifikepunye Pohamba, was selected at Swapo's presidential candidate.

Commenting on the smear campaign, Pohamba said that Namibia was a democratic country and that people could write what they wanted.

However, Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, the party's secretary general, warned that Swapo members who sowed dissent would be kicked out of the party.

Three newcomers

Swapo's antics have received a lot more media coverage than the election campaigns of the other eight parties that will be contesting the elections.

Most parties blamed a lack of funds for their dull campaigns. Swapo is the only party with a budget worth mentioning (R6m).

Seven of the nine parties have put up candidates for the presidential elections.

Three parties are taking part in the elections for the first time - the Namibian Movement for Democratic Change, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) and the Republican Party (RP).

The RP and Duto were part of the DTA (Democratic Turnhalle Alliance) in the previous elections. The other parties contesting the elections are the Congress of Democrats, the Monitor Action Group (MAG), the United Democratic Front (UDF), Swanu and Swapo.

Although Nujoma will no longer run the country, political observers believe that he will still wield considerable power as president of Swapo.

Professor Andre du Pisani of the University of Namibia said Swapo would maintain its strong power base after the election.

"There is no danger of Swapo losing its two-thirds majority - in fact, it could increase its margin."

The other presidential candidates are Justus Garoëb (UDF), Katuutire Kaura (DTA), Henk Mudge (RP), Kosie Pretorius (MAG), Kuanima Riruako (Nudo) and Ben Ulenga (Congress of Democrats).

The number of votes that Pohamba as Swapo's candidate will draw is one of the interesting aspects of the elections.

Some Swapo leaders allegedly urged supporters to vote for the party but not for Pohamba.

Land an issue

Another interesting aspect is the land issue that features in virtually all parties' manifestos.

At the launch of Swapo's manifesto, Nujoma promised that 162 farms, owned by foreigners, would be disowned.

Ben Ulenga, leader of the Congress of Democrats, criticised land reform and said it was only the rich within Swapo that benefited at present.

"Land must go to the poor and the landless, not to rich Swapo ministers."

RP leader Mudge said land reform was "an inherited political dilemma" that had to be addressed.

Nudo and the DTA also refer to land reform in their manifestos.

Apart from land reform, Swapo's other priorities are health, housing, education and job creation.

Pohamba said he would focus on allocating resources to speed up programmes intended to improve the quality of life of Namibians.

The RP identified unemployment and poverty as its two burning issues. It is also the only party that indicated that it planned to address moral decay in the country.

Riruako, Nudo leader and chief of the Herero tribe, said his party's campaign concentrated on health and social welfare with a particular focus on the HIV/Aids pandemic.

Kaura and the DTA promised to put an end to squatter camps, get rid of Cuban doctors and increase old-age pension to R500 per month.

In its election statement, the MAG, which has a strong focus on Christian principles, said it would not lobby for votes through promises, but that it would offer principled and convincing politics.

The election commission says 977 741 of the country's 1.8m citizens have registered to vote.

- Media24 Africa