WINDHOEK: The Secretary-General (SG) of the Swapo Party is confident that the upcoming Fifth Swapo-Party Congress will be productive due to documents discussed and adopted at its first National Policy Conference.
Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana made the statement during the official closing ceremony of the first-ever Swapo-Party National Policy Conference that ended here on Thursday.
It started on Monday.
“I have no doubt in my mind that similar to this conference, the congress shall be pre-occupied with the search for solutions to improve the living standards of our people through effective services and the growing of the economy,” said Iivula-Ithana.
She stated that the process leading to the policy conference was all inclusive of all Swapo-Party structures that were consulted and made inputs into the policy research papers.
The SG added that all party rank and file members came together to engage in frank and open discussions, aimed at identifying viable solutions to the challenges facing the nation.
“This conference has clearly shown that to strengthen the organic unity of the party, we should pay attention to leadership development, political education, gender equality, and pioneer and youth development,” said Iivula-Ithana.
She stated that the transmission of the country’s rich history to the new generation and nation building will also strengthen the organic unity of the party.
The SG also noted that for the country’s benefit, the Swapo Party has to pay attention to problems of unemployment and inequality in income distribution.
“Furthermore, the presentations and discussions have shown that we need to pay particular attention to economic growth and social injustice,” she emphasised.
Iivula -Ithana told the gathering that the problem of poverty and the legacy of inequality facing the country shall have to be confronted with vigor in days and months to come.
She explained that the themes that were discussed and debated were based on scholarly research by members of the Swapo-Party Think Tank, who selflessly applied their knowledge in coming up with credible and practical policy proposals.
The issues that were interrogated include unemployment and poverty, economic growth and income distribution, delivery of quality healthcare, delivery of quality education, and the promotion and sustenance of moral values.
Iivula-Ithana pointed out that the recommendations that emanated from the discussions provide a pragmatic, inclusive and rational basis for discussions about the country’s future on which the Swapo-Party government will make future policy interventions.
She pointed out that with the positive results from the conference, the Swapo Party Think Tank will fine-tune the technical aspects of the final conference documents, following which the Political Bureau and the Central Committee (CC) will consider the documents for presentation at the Swapo congress slated for November this year.
“The congress will then, as the highest decision making body, approve and adopt the recommendations for the implementation by the government,” said the SG.