Presidential hopefuls set out to woo Parliament

WHAT the election of a new president may mean for the country appears to be weighing on the minds of both ruling and opposition party parliamentarians.

During the final round of the Budget debate in the National Assembly before it goes into committee stage, Deputy Minister of Prisons and Correctional Services Jeremiah Nambinga minced no words in letting his party’s three presidential candidates know what will be expected of them should one of them come to power. He said the future of the country’s economy rested in the hands of the new leadership – either Lands Minister Hifikepunye Pohamba, Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula or Foreign Affairs Minister Hidipo Hamutenya.Their candidacy was announced at a special Swapo meeting two weeks ago.Nambinga set the tone by lamenting the country’s idle and self-destructive workforce.He feared that should workers not become more committed and serious about working hard, the country would fail to reach its target of becoming a developed country in 2030.Nambinga laid the responsibility for fostering a culture of hard work at the door of the country’s next president.”I would like to appeal to our three presidential candidates that, whoever wins, they should lead by example,” was Nambinga’s call.”They [the workers] must understand that in as much as they have rights as workers, they must begin to realise that they also have responsibilities.I know that many a time as human beings we like to emphasise our rights and turn a blind eye to our responsibilities,” he added.These remarks resonated with [Nahas] Angula, who made frequent interjections of “Very, very good!” Laziness, alcohol and drug abuse, Nambinga said, were the pitfalls of developing Africa.DTA leader Katuutire Kaura warned the House not to underestimate his chances of becoming the country’s next president.He took the opportunity to reminisce about early encounters with the Swapo trio – wrestling in the Okahandja River with Hamutenya in 1958; meetings with Angula during their studies at Columbia University in New York; and the time of Pohamba’s deportation to Zambia, in 1966.He commented that at the time none of them could have known that one day they would become aspiring presidential candidates.”I keep pinching myself when I look at us and the long journey we have travelled to be here.However, I feel sorry for all three of them [Swapo candidates] because, being a pro, I am going to defeat all of them combined in the upcoming presidential election on November 15,” he quipped,.This remark drew resounding applause and good-natured laughter from the ruling party benches.Undeterred, Kaura stood his ground, reaffirming his position with an “it is true Honourable Deputy Speaker”.After a two-month absence from the House while he underwent knee surgery, the President of Monitor Action Group (MAG), Kosie Pretorius, returned to Parliament on Wednesday for what he predicted could be his last Budget debate.”Before I am misunderstood, let me say that this is not because I think I will not make it back through the elections, but the Constitution does not make provision for a man to be the president and a member of this House,” he said to resounding applause from all sides.Adding his voice, UDF leader Chief Justus //Garoeb adopted a more serious tone.He said he hoped the impending change in the country’s leadership would signal a more equitable distribution of the country’s resources among it’s citizens.He claimed that citizens from the northern regions had been favoured by Government because of their role in the liberation struggle.”If change and new leadership are behind the anticipated change of leadership, then it stands to reason that this transformation should be carried through and felt at all levels of society,” said the Chief.”It is therefore proper that Namibia now comes back to all the people of Namibia and that all Namibians south of Oshivelo regain not only their pride and dignity, but their rightful share of the national resources.”He said the future of the country’s economy rested in the hands of the new leadership – either Lands Minister Hifikepunye Pohamba, Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula or Foreign Affairs Minister Hidipo Hamutenya.Their candidacy was announced at a special Swapo meeting two weeks ago.Nambinga set the tone by lamenting the country’s idle and self-destructive workforce.He feared that should workers not become more committed and serious about working hard, the country would fail to reach its target of becoming a developed country in 2030.Nambinga laid the responsibility for fostering a culture of hard work at the door of the country’s next president.”I would like to appeal to our three presidential candidates that, whoever wins, they should lead by example,” was Nambinga’s call.”They [the workers] must understand that in as much as they have rights as workers, they must begin to realise that they also have responsibilities.I know that many a time as human beings we like to emphasise our rights and turn a blind eye to our responsibilities,” he added.These remarks resonated with [Nahas] Angula, who made frequent interjections of “Very, very good!” Laziness, alcohol and drug abuse, Nambinga said, were the pitfalls of developing Africa.DTA leader Katuutire Kaura warned the House not to underestimate his chances of becoming the country’s next president.He took the opportunity to reminisce about early encounters with the Swapo trio – wrestling in the Okahandja River with Hamutenya in 1958; meetings with Angula during their studies at Columbia University in New York; and the time of Pohamba’s deportation to Zambia, in 1966.He commented that at the time none of them could have known that one day they would become aspiring presidential candidates.”I keep pinching myself when I look at us and the long journey we have travelled to be here.However, I feel sorry for all three of them [Swapo candidates] because, being a pro, I am going to defeat all of them combined in the upcoming presidential election on November 15,” he quipped,.This remark drew resounding applause and good-natured laughter from the ruling party benches.Undeterred, Kaura stood his ground, reaffirming his position with an “it is true Honourable Deputy Speaker”.After a two-month absence from the House while he underwent knee surgery, the President of Monitor Action Group (MAG), Kosie Pretorius, returned to Parliament on Wednesday for what he predicted could be his last Budget debate.”Before I am misunderstood, let me say that this is not because I think I will not make it back through the elections, but the Constitution does not make provision for a man to be the president and a member of this House,” he said to resounding applause from all sides.Adding his voice, UDF leader Chief Justus //Garoeb adopted a more serious tone.He said he hoped the impending change in the country’s leadership would signal a more equitable distribution of the country’s resources among it’s citizens.He claimed that citizens from the northern regions had been favoured by Government because of their role in the liberation struggle.”If change and new leadership are behind the anticipated change of leadership, then it stands to reason that this transformation should be carried through and felt at all levels of society,” said the Chief.”It is therefore proper that Namibia now comes back to all the people of Namibia and that all Namibians south of Oshivelo regain not only their pride and dignity, but their rightful share of the national resources.”