They were welcomed by the party's president, Epafras Mukwiilongo, as well as by its vice president, Kalimbo Iipumbu. Iipumbu said the two have seen it “crucial and truthful to join the real revolutionary movement that aspires to free the working class and the poor”.“We are encouraging more young people to join the party as it's the only Namibian political party with a clear socialist ideology, and a party that is driving a continental agenda which Namibia is part of,” he said.Amushelelo yesterday said he decided to join the party because he wants to drive the economic agenda.“Namibians have not been interested in the country's economy. We have always been interested in politics, and no one has been interested in economic affairs,” he said.He said he wants to “fight” the current system. Amushelelo in 2018 attempted to establish a political party, called the People Organised Working for Economic Reality (Power) party, which failed to be registered.“If you go to the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) it is not registered as a political party. However we need civic movements in the country that will be hammering the government of the day,” he said.Among others, the Electoral Act requires that a party must submit a declaration signed by at least 3 500 people in seven of the 14 regions to qualify for registration as a political party. Power, however, failed to meet that requirement. Amushelelo also has close ties with the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement, but said it is a civic movement and not a political party.“Many of you Namibians are sleepy. We need accountability in the country. We need to thank the AR movement accordingly,” he said. His dream of registering his party was cut short by charges brought against him, he said.Amushelelo, Cloete and four close corporations, a company and a trust controlled by Amushelelo are accused of having operated a Ponzi scheme in which money was solicited from investors who were lured by promises of high returns on their investments from September 2018 to October 2019. “Subsequently, they froze my bank accounts, which were financing my political ambitions,” he said.Amushelelo called on the government to cancel foreign-owned tenders in the country, and to give tenders to Namibian-owned companies.Iipumbu said Namibia's economy is shrinking and that it has caused anger that needs to be addressed urgently. “The time to rescue our country from political elites is now. Namibia is rich, and its people deserve better,” he said.Iipumbu said the country's economy continues to be controlled by foreigners.
