Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Movement’s leader, Job Amupanda says the movement has been redirecting Namibian society by engaging senior government officials and organising mass protests, which have resulted in high decisions that have saved the country billions of dollars.
Amupanda was speaking at the movement’s November election preparation workshop that took place in Windhoek over the weekend.
He said that over the years, the movement has managed to open the eyes of many Namibians, especially the youth, who believe in the movement with the conviction that they are fighting for the right principle.
“Even those who work for the government have been willing to defy those in positions of authority and inform the AR about the government’s plans to stop the AR leadership from carrying out activities,’ he said.
He stated that in 2014, when the movement organised the mass land servicing protest in Windhoek, there were lots of talks going around, with some people in government saying that the protest would result in mass casualties because the government was reading the law enforcement agencies, including the defence force, to contain the protest.
As a result, the movement leadership had to change tactics and negotiate with the government in a diplomatic manner.
‘’The atmosphere was tense in 2014, there were a lot of elders who were talking to us, saying people were going to die. So when you sleep, you think of that, yes, we can be revolutionary, but we are not lunatics. So if this person who is 70 or 80 commands and people are killed, in ten years he will be dead, like it’s the case now, and the parents of those that are killed are going to be looking at us during that time. As a revolutionary, you begin to think also, and when you go and negotiate, are you selling out, are you retreating, or are you having a strategic retreat to save lives and fight another day?’’ said Amupanda.
He stated that the movement prevented Namibia from spending N$2.2 billion on a planned new parliament building in 2016.
The project eventually collapsed because, before the protest, AR leaders had mobilised those involved in the procurement who were also against the idea of building a new Parliament to sabotage the deal.
‘’We also had a Cheda must fall protest in Oshakati to remove a corrupt judge from our justice system, and Cheda was quietly removed. He is not in the country as we speak,’’ he said.
Amupanda noted that following Cheda’s removal, the AR leadership began to raise concerns about the appointment process for judges.
AR also protested for the public appointment of judges, which is currently the norm in the judiciary system.
