RDP sees donation as bribery

THE Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) yesterday took issue with what the party called an uneven playing field for parties campaigning for the November national elections.

RDP information secretary Jeremiah Nambinga condemned what he called corporate companies trying to bribe the ruling party. He called on companies to donate money to all parties participating in the elections.’If they have money to give Swapo, then they must give money to all political parties,’ he told a media briefing in Windhoek.He added that the playing field should be levelled to create a conducive atmosphere for all parties to freely campaign and participate in the upcoming elections.He cited the donation of N$ 2,5 million worth of campaign material to Swapo by Oshikango-based Fatima Plastic Manufacturing on Monday.Nambinga said he was disappointed by the fact that Fatima recently got a N$3 million loan from the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN), just to donate money to a political party while the main reason why DBN gave them the loan was to create jobs for the people. The Namibian understands that DBN did not lend money to Fatima but to local businesspeople who used the money to buy shares in Fatima Plastic Manufacturing’s Oshikango subsidiary.Nambinga said the ruling party was working hard to indirectly bribe people into voting for them.He said one example was the communal farmers who were evicted from the Kavango Region and resettled in the Mangetti area.’We have discovered that the purpose of Government to resettle these people is to influence them to vote for the ruling party,’ he claimed.Nambinga went on to say the lease agreement between these farmers and Government is only valid for one year, meaning that they will be on their own after the elections.’This clearly shows that Government is not serious with the plight of these farmers, this is a ploy to secure votes,’ he said.According to Nambinga, the agreement with the farmers precludes them from participating in any political activities for the duration of their lease agreement. He said this amounted to a violation of the farmers’ constitutional rights.Nambinga further claimed that the RDP recently discovered that Swapo and its government had been rigging elections all along. He said although he used to be a senior leader in Swapo he was not aware of the rigging at the time.Also yesterday, Nambinga announced the RDP’s first electoral college this weekend.The event will start tomorrow at the Katutura Community Hall, where 312 delegates will decide who will represent the party in Parliament next year. tileni@nambian.com.na