Martin Endjala
Landless People’s Movement leader, Bernadus Swartbooi says that since they took over some local authorities from Swapo, the party has been cleaning up years of alleged mismanagement by the ruling party.
He said this in reaction to President Hage Geingob’s statement that opposition parties appear not to be able to lead local authorities they are in charge of.
Swartbooi said that Swapo has been in charge of the authorities for 32 years where he accused the party of malpractices of nepotism, poor administrative operations and misappropriation of funds.
He said that the fact that LPM is recalling its councillors is not because the party cannot govern, but because the officials are not delivering on the party promises.
He then made a revelation that two Karasburg municipal officials have been suspended from pending investigations for being involved in misappropriation of funds and incompetence.
One of the officials is alleged to have been transferring funds from the councils account straight into their own personal accounts.
Swartbooi stated that this has been ongoing since the reign of Swapo in the region. When LPM LPM took over they took action as the individuals possess a danger to both the region and the development of communities and the country at large.
The LPM outspoken leader, further revealed that the same individual did similar activities at Arandis and yet nothing was done. When LPM took action, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development came out saying that rule of law does not work like this.
Under LPM, he said, no incompetence and unacceptable behaviour patterns will be tolerated that will have social and economic repercussions on the region, while they are the custodians of that region or town.
He emphasized that they do not only recall their councillors, but they reintegrate them into system programs to better equip them with the necessary tools that they need to improve on.
