Ester Mbathera
The United People’s Movement (UPM) has distanced itself from statements made by Polykarp Ameya, a parliamentary candidate on its party’s list, in a widely circulated video.
Ameya in the video accused the University of Namibia (Unam) of funding the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) party and acting as its political training ground.
“UNAM is funding AR political party. What have I said? The Faculty of Political Science of Unam is currently serving as the political party school of the AR political party,” he said.
Ameya further accused Amupanda of being politically corrupt.
“You are the president of a registered political party. At the same time, you are a lecturer or professor at the Faculty of Political Science or the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science at Unam. What do you do in your classroom? You recruit. You turn your classroom into a political education of your political party,” said Ameya.
He has since called on Unam to dismiss Amupanda.
Ameya, a former member of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), joined UPM recently and is included on the party’s parliament list to represent the Omusati Region.
In 2015 he founded the Namibia People Organisation (Nampo), a party he called “a revolutionary offspring of Swapo”.
UPM Secretary-General Celeste Becker dismissed Ameya’s statement, saying it is unfounded and damaging to the party’s reputation.
Becker said Ameya’s views were his own and not endorsed by the UPM.
“The individual in the video is not affiliated to the United People’s Movement (UPM), and equally, the UPM has no affiliation to the opinions and expressions of the said individual,” Becker said.
She criticised the circulation of Ameya’s remarks, stating that they do not align with the UPM’s values.
“The UPM does not concern itself or its members with such claims and statements as they are biased and unproven. We are a political party founded on Christian values and norms, as countlessly expressed.”
She alleged that the UPM President, Jan van Wyk, may have facilitated connections between the party and Ameya without the authorisation of the UPM Management Committee.
“The recent actions by the former UPM president have resulted in the disrepute of the party and have produced materials considered as campaign instruments, which the UPM management does not endorse,” Becker added.
Unam spokesperson Simon Namesho also dismissed Ameya’s allegations, describing them as baseless and inaccurate.
“UNAM does not, in any capacity, directly or indirectly, provide funding in any form to any political party. These allegations are false, and we reject them in the strongest possible terms,” Namesho stated.
Namesho added that the university handles employment-related issues with the utmost professionalism and privacy, in line with its policies.
“We caution all political actors against dragging UNAM’s name into baseless political narratives. It is unacceptable to resort to misinformation and deception in an attempt to advance personal or political agendas,” he said.
Both Aumpanda and Van Wyk did not reply to questions sent to them by the time this article was published.
