‘I supported LPM from my pocket’

Former Landless People’s Movement (LPM) deputy mayor of Keetmanshoop Charlcyta Cooper has slammed a statement by the party describing her as unfit to be a councillor.

Cooper yesterday said she did not make a habit of taking leftover food home from events as stated, but instead claimed that she supported the LPM from her own pocket.

Cooper said the LPM prides itself on restoring people’s dignity but opted to issue a statement to slander her with the aim to tarnish her image and destroy her political career simply because she resigned from the party to join Swapo.

“These are the double standards of this party. If they want to build up Namibians, why are they tearing me down now that I have left? I left saying ‘nobody is speaking to me’. I did not slander the party, but now they want to destroy my reputation because I joined Swapo,” said Cooper.

In the statement issued to “offer clarity and education” to individuals like Cooper who “spread misinformation” about LPM management, Joyce Muzengua from the human rights desk said the LPM rejects the false claims, insinuations, and unfounded accusations.

“The incessant and compulsive nature of their attacks on the LPM national leadership is becoming a concerning issue, warranting increased security measures to protect our leaders from potential harm.

These individuals’ unwarranted obsession with our party leadership and the party itself is driven by sheer hatred and must be addressed proactively before it escalates further,” said Muzengua.

Muzengua noted that during Cooper’s time as a councillor, she never initiated any motions or attended the annual councillors’ forum, where LPM councillors present their annual plans and report on their implementation progress.

“In fact, at our last forum at Keetmanshoop, Cooper was involved in a dispute over food with the youth who were preparing a braai for the delegates. She has a habit of taking leftover food home for her own consumption, despite our plea to donate it to the less privileged,” said Muzengua.

She said the LPM reportedly tried to train Cooper but the results were not satisfactory as her alleged behaviour showed disinterest in training, in favour of exploring fast-food restaurants and shopping malls, displaying lavish and consumerist tendencies.

One such instance listed by the LPM was a week-long training programme organised by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, hosted by the faculty of economics and management sciences at the University of the Western Cape.

Muzengua said what was most concerning for the LPM were complaints from Keetmanshoop residents about alleged unethical land dealings, including the acquisition of a commercial erf for the construction of flats within a remarkably short period of two months after being sworn in.

“Despite being questioned by the party’s national leadership of the political action committee regarding alleged unethical land dealings, Cooper persisted in fast-tracking her application and appeared to prioritise her own interests and those of her associates, rather than fulfilling her mandate of prioritising the interests of the landless people. This was deeply concerning to us,” noted the statement.

Cooper said the LPM has also alleged that she misused funds of the Mayoral Trust, among others.

“These are all lies. There are committees responsible for land, housing and even the Mayoral Trust. One person cannot take such decisions. I actually do not understand why they are crying foul, since they say I am not educated and should go and educate myself.

“This statement comes from the human rights’ desk. A desk that did not protect my right to be heard, and now my right to association… And these claims of food, I have never done [sic]. But if it helps them to feel better about themselves, whatever I carried away according to them, I did because I paid for it.

“This is a party I supported out of my own pocket,” said Cooper.