President Sam Nujoma addresses star rally - Elections '99 - Sustainable Democracy

WINDHOEK, 28 November 1999
Thousands of ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) supporters, thronged the Multi-purpose Youth Centre in Katutura today, to listen to President Sam Nujoma's last address before the national elections on Tuesday.

Clad in their blue, green and red party colours, the supporters braved the scotching desert heat of Namibia singing and dancing to liberation songs, before the President took to the stage.

In a speech punctuated with slogans and cheers from the crowd, Sam Nujoma chronicled his government's achievements in the last nine years and urged the supporters to renew his party's mandate in the coming elections.

He said his government had made great strides in uplifting the standard of living for the ordinary Namibian, with health and education facilities having been built in all regions of the country since independence.

He dismissed reports by opposition politicians that his party had only channelled development to the northern regions.

"I have listed these achievements to prove to you that those politicians who say that the SWAPO government has only channelled development to the northern regions are telling you blatant lies... we are a government of the people, by the people," said Nujoma.

"The SWAPO-Party government is seeking the renewed mandate of the Namibian people inorder to further strengthen democracy through the process of decentralisation of our economic planning, accelerate the process of job creation and enhance peace and tranquility in our country," the president said in his address.

President Nujoma comes from northern Namibia, which happens to be his party's support base. Political analysts believe that opposition parties will need to break the four O's if they are to be regarded as viable opposition. The four O's are the Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto regions in the north of the country. SWAPO is widely expected to have a sweeping victory in these areas.

At its star rally on Saturday, the newly formed opposition party, the Congress of Democrats (COD), called on Namibians to use their vote to remove the SWAPO government from power as the country's future was guaranteed in the CoD.

"CoD believes in multi-party democracy... we believe SWAPO should be in the parliament as the opposition and that the current leadership of that party belongs on the retirement bench," said Ben Ulenga, the leader of the new party.

He told hundreds of supporters at the rally in Katutura that if elected, his party will pull out of Congo, reduce the number of government ministers from 60 to 15 as well as declare HIV-AIDS a national emergency inorder for the government to find strategies to deal with the scourge.

The new party is widely expected to become Namibia's official opposition, replacing the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance which has become weak over the years.

In the last elections of 1994, SWAPO won 53 out of the 72 seats with DTA managing 15 and other smaller parties getting four seats between them.

With the election only a few days way, the main issues of concern to the ordinary man on the streets seem to be the rising unemployment, the country's involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), HIV-Aids, and tension in the Caprivi Strip.

Analysts believe that the AIDS epidemic is destined to pre-empt any development efforts that the country may have on their drawing boards, as the rate of infection is said to be rising at alarming levels.

"It will make a farce of the human resources development expenditure as a large proportion of those trained will fall prey to the disease", said one observer.

These will be Namibia's third multi-party elections. (SARDC)