Swapo to spend N$6m on polls

SWAPO plans to spend more than N$6 million on the upcoming national elections in addition to generous sponsorships from some businesses.

Other political parties, such as the Congress of Democrats (CoD), DTA and UDF, say they have hardly a budget to speak of, though they wish they had millions of dollars to bankroll their campaign. Sources told The Namibian that the ruling party had put aside at least N$6,2 million of its funds to push for more than its present 55 seats in the 72-member National Assembly during the November elections.Swapo Deputy Secretary for Information and Mobilisation, Theopolina Mushelenga, was yesterday unable to provide the amount that her organisation will spend on the elections campaign, but confirmed it will be substantial.Swapo will aim for a minimum 60 seats in the NA.”As you are aware democracy is a costly exercise and we’ve got to go through with it.For now I cannot say how much we are putting into this exercise but I’m sure we will be able to handle it,” said Mushelenga.Swapo gets more than 70 per cent of this year’s N$19 million State funding that goes to political parties in the National Assembly.With that the ruling party should more than cover its elections budget, before taking into account what already seems to be hefty donations from private companies.The same cannot be said of the opposition parties, who are quick to point to a lack of finance as the main reason for their lacklustre performance in the campaign so far.Tsudao Gurirab, National Chairperson of CoD, said the opposition party had exhausted its N$1,5 million bank overdraft to hire four vehicles for the campaign.Asked what their campaign budget was, Gurirab said:”Nothing because we expect no money.”Riding on new-found voter enthusiasm following the resignation of Ben Ulenga from Swapo, the CoD appeared able to raise funds and spent N$1,5 million in the 1999 elections.Gurirab said by simply calculating inflation into what was spent then, the CoD would need a minimum of N$3 million.He said the party had a fundraising committee driving the campaign to “ask those who believe in our cause to help us” with funds to pay for the election campaign.”We are sitting now and waiting for manna to fall from heaven,” he said, adding, “we hope that the manna does come before the 15th of November” – the first of two days Presidential and National Assembly elections.The CoD says it is aiming for a minimum of 15 seats in the National Assembly.In addition, the parties will still have to push ahead for the regional councils polls at the end of November.DTA Secretary General, McHenry Venaani, said “to run an effective campaign” his party needed N$3,9 million.He would not say how much they had, except to say they were far off the mark, though people in the party disclosed that a recent trip by some party leaders to the United States might have boosted the kitty.Kosie Pretorius’s Monitor Action Group (MAG) will rely on the N$250 000 it received from the Government.Most of this money will be used in the last four weeks before voting.Chief Justus Garoeb of the UDF said he had no clue what the elections would cost his party.Certainly more than N$200 000, he added.Swanu’s Rihupisa Kandando said “technically” his party had only N$5 000 for the elections.Members of Swanu, the oldest political party in Namibia, have to pay in kind, he said.Republican Party (RP) leader Henk Mudge gave no figures on his party’s financial standing, though he said it would not be enough to run the campaign.The biggest cost to politicians during elections is transport.This is because Namibia is huge and the population dispersed.Sources said Swapo had budgeted N$2 million for transport alone, which will include paying for fuel and covering the cost of drivers.The party is expected to hire 30 vehicles, which is cheaper than buying.Gurirab of the CoD said their second largest cost had been for campaign material such as posters and mock ballot papers.The financial strength of a party appears to play a major role in Namibian politics.In 1989 the DTA, then part of the apartheid regime and the biggest recipient of slush funds from South Africa, gained 21 seats in the Constituent Assembly, while pitted against an equally well-funded Swapo riding on international donor solidarity.But as the DTA’s financial clout diminished, so did its support.But Venaani yesterday claimed, unconvincingly, that his party would be “taking over the government” in the next elections because of wrangling within Swapo and the CoD.Mushelenga scoffed at any suggestions that her party had been weakened by inner party rivalry.”It was just a whirlwind.When you go through thick and thin, you become stronger.Swapo is more united than ever before.People should not fool themselves into believing that Swapo is divided,” said Mushelenga.Sources told The Namibian that the ruling party had put aside at least N$6,2 million of its funds to push for more than its present 55 seats in the 72-member National Assembly during the November elections.Swapo Deputy Secretary for Information and Mobilisation, Theopolina Mushelenga, was yesterday unable to provide the amount that her organisation will spend on the elections campaign, but confirmed it will be substantial.Swapo will aim for a minimum 60 seats in the NA.”As you are aware democracy is a costly exercise and we’ve got to go through with it.For now I cannot say how much we are putting into this exercise but I’m sure we will be able to handle it,” said Mushelenga.Swapo gets more than 70 per cent of this year’s N$19 million State funding that goes to political parties in the National Assembly.With that the ruling party should more than cover its elections budget, before taking into account what already seems to be hefty donations from private companies.The same cannot be said of the opposition parties, who are quick to point to a lack of finance as the main reason for their lacklustre performance in the campaign so far.Tsudao Gurirab, National Chairperson of CoD, said the opposition party had exhausted its N$1,5 million bank overdraft to hire four vehicles for the campaign.Asked what their campaign budget was, Gurirab said:”Nothing because we expect no money.”Riding on new-found voter enthusiasm following the resignation of Ben Ulenga from Swapo, the CoD appeared able to raise funds and spent N$1,5 million in the 1999 elections.Gurirab said by simply calculating inflation into what was spent then, the CoD would need a minimum of N$3 million.He said the party had a fundraising committee driving the campaign to “ask those who believe in our cause to help us” with funds to pay for the election campaign.”We are sitting now and waiting for manna to fall from heaven,” he said, adding, “we hope that the manna does come before the 15th of November” – the first of two days Presidential and National Assembly elections.The CoD says it is aiming for a minimum of 15 seats in the National Assembly.In addition, the parties will still have to push ahead for the regional councils polls at the end of November.DTA Secretary General, McHenry Venaani, said “to run an effective campaign” his party needed N$3,9 million.He would not say how much they had, except to say they were far off the mark, though people in the party disclosed that a recent trip by some party leaders to the United States might have boosted the kitty.Kosie Pretorius’s Monitor Action Group (MAG) will rely on the N$250 000 it received from the Government.Most of this money will be used in the last four weeks before voting.Chief Justus Garoeb of the UDF said he had no clue what the elections would cost his party.Certainly more than N$200 000, he added.Swanu’s Rihupisa Kandando said “technically” his party had only N$5 000 for the elections.Members of Swanu, the oldest political party in Namibia, have to pay in kind, he said.Republican Party (RP) leader Henk Mudge gave no figures on his party’s financial standing, though he said it would not be enough to run the campaign.The biggest cost to politicians during elections is transport.This is because Namibia is huge and the population dispersed.Sources said Swapo had budgeted N$2 million for transport alone, which will include paying for fuel and covering the cost of drivers.The party is expected to hire 30 vehicles, which is cheaper than buying.Gurirab of the CoD said their second largest cost had been for campaign material such as posters and mock ballot papers.The financial strength of a party appears to play a major role in Namibian politics.In 1989 the DTA, then part of the apartheid regime and the biggest recipient of slush funds from South Africa, gained 21 seats in the Constituent Assembly, while pitted against an equally well-funded Swapo riding on international donor solidarity.But as the DTA’s financial clout diminished, so did its support.But Venaani yesterday claimed, unconvincingly, that his party would be “taking over the government” in the next elections because of wrangling within Swapo and the CoD.Mushelenga scoffed at any suggestions that her party had been weakened by inner party rivalry.”It was just a whirlwind.When you go through thick and thin, you become stronger.Swapo is more united than ever before.People should not fool themselves into believing that Swapo is divided,” said Mushelenga.