CoD wants to rebuild, revitalise

CONGRESS of Democrats (CoD) president Ben Ulenga believes his party is more relevant in Namibia today than it was at its establishment 13 years ago and says there is no reason why it cannot rebuild its support base.

Speaking at a media conference to commemorate the CoD’s 13th anniversary in Windhoek on Saturday, Ulenga said the party’s leadership has reaffirmed its commitment to the principles and political objectives on which its establishment was based.Ulenga said the formation of the CoD went hand in hand with the issuing of the party’s political doctrine, which summed up the prevailing economic and socio-political conditions in Namibia in 1999.According to Ulenga, these conditions were characterised by a ‘lack of a practical dimension of democracy, but also by a fear of democracy itself and a spirit of intolerance from within the ruling circles’.Ulenga said bearing this in mind, the CoD is more relevant today than ever before based on the current socio-political and economic situation.However, the CoD’s grassroots support has been declining in recent years and the party now has only one seat in the National Assembly.The CoD has also had its fair share of infighting between its top leaders, and this has undoubtedly had an effect on the party’s support base.According to Ulenga, when the CoD was formed 13 years ago, the party openly challenged the political status quo of Namibia, and also challenged the ruling Swapo Party at the ballot box.Ulenga said self-enrichment, elitism, political patronage and corruption are threatening to destroy Namibian society.He called for an open and transparent Namibian society where development is made a priority.But the country has slipped even deeper into the ‘muck of corruption’ which has ‘denied, dwarfed and almost destroyed’ all efforts directed at nation building.Ulenga said the CoD’s central committee met on Saturday morning to discuss the state of the country and of the party itself, where the need to rebuild the party’s base was acknowledged.’We [CoD central committee] have decided, and we are going to rededicate ourselves to the principles and objectives of the CoD which brought the party to life in 1999,’ Ulenga said.He added that he saw no reason why the CoD could not rebuild its grassroots support base, adding that ‘everyone, including the ruling party’ is copying the political principles of the CoD.When asked how the CoD intends to reverse its decline, Ulenga said: ‘We have a few ideas and keeping these up our sleeves. The nation shall see these in good time.’