ZAMBEZI: Zambezi residents flocked to the Katima Mulilo Sports Complex on Saturday to listen to Namibia’s Vice President and Swapo Party Presidential candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at Swapo Party’s star rally. Whilst introducing and inviting the presidential candidate to the podium to deliver her message, Swapo Secretary General Sophia Shaningwa urged voters to concentrate on the colours and symbols of the Swapo Party depicted on dummy ballot papers she distributed at the rally – encouraging them to vote for the party and give it a 100 per cent victory.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Shaningwa emphasized the significance of the large turnout, suggesting that the crowd’s size demonstrated strong support for the Swapo Party. She questioned how Swapo could be defeated when so many people were committed to voting for Nandi-Ndaitwah and the party. Shaningwa further highlighted that in a predominantly male presidential race, Nandi-Ndaitwah stands out as the only female candidate for the elections scheduled
for 27 November.
On her part, Nandi-Ndaitwah appealed to the residents to give Swapo and her candidature the mandate to govern the country for the next five years. She assured the attendees that with such a mandate, she would implement the party’s election manifesto effectively, leveraging her reputation as a practical ‘implementer’. Among her key achievements, she cited the introduction of social grants for vulnerable children and various environment and tourism initiatives during her tenure as a minister.
Nandi-Ndaitwah expressed her commitment to reviving agricultural projects in the region, including the Kalimbeza rice project, in line with her passion for agriculture. She highlighted a new collateral-free programme by Agribank aimed at helping youth and women venture into agriculture, with the promise of mentorship from the bank. Additionally, she proposed interventions like a targeted income grant for unemployed individuals not benefiting from existing government grants.
Addressing water supply issue
s, Nandi-Ndaitwah revealed that the Government had allocated N.dollars 1 billion to improve pipelines from Katima-Linyanti to Lianshulu and from Katima-Bukalo-Ngoma. The rally also featured announcements from Dorothy Kabula, the party’s acting regional coordinator, who stated that over 133 people had resigned from other parties to join Swapo. The event was attended by Chief George Simasiku Mamili of the Mafwe Traditional Authority and other high-ranking representatives from traditional authorities in the region.