Calling people funeral food collectors is an insult – Mumbala

SWAPO coordinator for the //Kharas region Mathew Mumbala has criticised Landless People’s Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi labelling of community members as funeral food collectors.

Mumbala told The Namibian yesterday that Swartbooi’s comments are an insult to society and one should be mindful when uttering such statements in the public domain.

“As //Kharas district coordinator, this is an insult to the region’s inhabitants given that [Swartbooi’s] party is the incumbent government in the south,” Mumbala said.

Mumbala’s criticism comes after Swartbooi accused the Swapo government for failing to address hunger, leaving some citizens with no choice but to attend funerals to collect food.

Swartbooi made the claim at the party’s fourth national convention in Windhoek on Saturday.

“Our society has turned into funeral food eaters – they become churchgoers and even sing the funeral songs well and are well dressed. They strategically position themselves just for a meal,” the LPM leader said.

Swartbooi said for many years Swapo failed to address poverty in the country, and that Namibians have continued to vote for Swapo based on false promises the ruling party had failed to deliver on.

Mumbala questioned what Swartbooi has done to assist the people he alleged are without food, saying the party leader should assist people before attacking others.

“We have drought relief programmes. Has he approached the Office of the Prime Minister to apply and register such [a] community for drought relief?” he asked.

Mumbala countered that poverty in the region can instead be partially attributed to unnecessary spending on court cases by the LPM, which he claimed waste money on court cases at the expense of people’s lives.