LPM leader Bernadus Swartbooi has accused the government of persecuting non-Oshiwambo tribes, warning that he is prepared to seek asylum in the United States (US) and raise the matter with president Donald Trump.
Swartbooi made the remarks during a press briefing at Keetmanshoop on Thursday, following the attempted arrest of two ||Kharas regional councillors earlier this week ahead of regional council and local authority elections.
On Wednesday, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) attempted to arrest ||Kharas Regional Council chairperson Joseph Isaacks and Bersebas councillor Jeremiah Goeieman, who are accused of favouritism in the hiring of administrative officers at their offices.
Swartbooi claims the attempted arrests are part of a broader political agenda targeting the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) and Nama-speaking people.
“We need the people of the US to help us and save us from what is happening in Namibia and provide us with asylum as they have done for Afrikaners.
“Because if you are a Herero, Nama, Coloured, San, you are a target for exploitation in this country,” Swartbooi said.
“Even at this council we have non-Nama-speaking persons appointed with variation, but the ACC did not come to investigate or charge and arrest people,” he said.
Isaacks maintains the 2024 appointment was lawful, while Swartbooi said the move to arrest the councillors is meant “to cause chaos” in the region one week before elections.
ACC director general Paulus Noa describes the councillors’ conduct as “a naked act of favouritism” which contravenes the Anti-Corruption Act.
“This is brazen corruption in the form of nepotism, which has nothing to do with elections,” says Noa.
He says the docket was submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor General in June 2024.
Keetmanshoop management committee chairperson Easter Isaak further alleged that Swapo is deploying “thousands of Namibia Defence Force (NDF) members” to southern bases to influence the vote.
“These defence force members have been deployed… to be the voters for Swapo,” Isaak claims.
NDF spokesperson colonel Petrus Shilumbu has rejected the allegations, saying political parties should not drag the army into politics and that deployments are based on operational needs.
“When it’s elections, people always want to tarnish the image of the NDF… If we open a naval base at Lüderitz, will that also be because of elections?” he asks.
Isaak also reiterates long-standing LPM claims that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) blocked the party from contesting in several local authorities in the Hardap, ||Kharas and Erongo regions in 2020.
The ECN maintains that its decisions followed legal procedures.
Despite the institutional responses, Swartbooi insisted the events of the week show that state institutions are being weaponised to target opposition parties.
He maintained that the alleged misuse of state agencies “is no longer acceptable” and repeated his call for external intervention and asylum for non-Oshiwambo-speaking Namibians.
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