RDP promises to do better

RDP Secretary General Jesaya Nyamu has blamed the Swapo Government for the country’s poor education system, saying that 18 years of Swapo rule had ruined a good system.

Addressing a poorly attended RDP rally at Keetmanshoop’s J Stephanus stadium on Saturday, Nyamu said the poor education system had led to a vacuum of skilled people in the country. “Government must find solutions to the education crisis elsewhere instead of pumping millions into the education sector,” he said.”But they do not see the problem,” he added.”I do not want to be impolite, but most people in Swapo do not appreciate education, because they simply do not understand it,” Nyamu remarked.”Some of the Swapo leaders even hate those who are educated,” he added.Nyamu also criticised Government’s land distribution policy, pledging that his party, if voted into power, would review the land management policy, which he claimed had been grossly mismanaged.”People who were given land by the Government are more than half poorer than they used to be,” Nyamu said.He said the original land distribution policy was a noble plan, but its execution was a big failure.Nyamu cited a lack of training for resettlement farmers and a lack of start-up capital as reasons why the land distribution policy is a failure.Nyamu also took a swipe at this year’s National Budget, saying a panic-stricken Government was dishing out money left and right to satisfy the electorate in the face of “political climate change”.He referred to the increase in war veterans’ grants and bigger budgets for the health and education sectors.A well-placed source in the RDP regional leadership told The Namibian that the poor turnout at Saturday’s rally disappointed the party’s interim national leadership.Because of the poor attendance, RDP interim President Hidipo Hamutenya, who was set to deliver the keynote address, did not attend the rally despite being in town, a source told The Namibian.”Government must find solutions to the education crisis elsewhere instead of pumping millions into the education sector,” he said.”But they do not see the problem,” he added. “I do not want to be impolite, but most people in Swapo do not appreciate education, because they simply do not understand it,” Nyamu remarked.”Some of the Swapo leaders even hate those who are educated,” he added.Nyamu also criticised Government’s land distribution policy, pledging that his party, if voted into power, would review the land management policy, which he claimed had been grossly mismanaged.”People who were given land by the Government are more than half poorer than they used to be,” Nyamu said.He said the original land distribution policy was a noble plan, but its execution was a big failure.Nyamu cited a lack of training for resettlement farmers and a lack of start-up capital as reasons why the land distribution policy is a failure.Nyamu also took a swipe at this year’s National Budget, saying a panic-stricken Government was dishing out money left and right to satisfy the electorate in the face of “political climate change”.He referred to the increase in war veterans’ grants and bigger budgets for the health and education sectors.A well-placed source in the RDP regional leadership told The Namibian that the poor turnout at Saturday’s rally disappointed the party’s interim national leadership.Because of the poor attendance, RDP interim President Hidipo Hamutenya, who was set to deliver the keynote address, did not attend the rally despite being in town, a source told The Namibian.