Body of Christ party president accuses traditional authorities of blocking campaigning

Body of Christ Party (BCP) president Festus Thomas says some traditional authorities are preventing political campaign activities.

He said this during the signing of the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s code of conduct by political parties on Friday.

“Some of our senior traditional authorities do not understand the process of this code of conduct. They still say ‘no other political party is allowed to come to my area unless they get a permit from the police station’,” he said.

Thomas said the party wants to convey this message to its supporters so that they can “behave properly” during the elections.

“I just want to tell our people that we have to be law-abiding citizens who refrain from violations and so on,” the politician said.

Council of Traditional Leaders chairperson Immanuel |Gâseb has distanced the council from this decision, saying it had no idea about this arrangement.

“This did not come from us, nor the government,” he says.

|Gâseb says political parties should be allowed to conduct their activities.

“All parties should be allowed to campaign. Even I cannot stop people from my community from doing their things,” he says.

Meanwhile, political parties on Friday told their members to behave orderly during the period of campaigns.

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) spokesperson Teresia Hamurenge told the youth not to fight over different political affiliations.

“Because at the end of the day, our fight lies with their votes. Our fight is on 27 November,” she said.

Hamurenge called on those campaigning to adhere to the rules.

“Not only for the NEFF, but the whole of Namibia should keep this election peaceful as all previous elections have been,” she said.

The Landless People’s Movement wanted the code of conduct to be signed earlier after the party clashed with Swapo in the Hardap region last month.

The party’s deputy operative secretary, Eneas Emvula, said this could have been prevented if the code was signed earlier.

“Much injury has been done,” he said.

The clash between Swapo and the LPM took place when a convoy of Swapo supporters was allegedly blocked by their rivals, who were putting up campaign flags.

A vehicle belonging to Swapo member Botha Basson was allegedly damaged in the confrontation.

“One is to have the signing of the code of conduct right at the beginning of political campaigning . . . We will need to prevent that in the future,” Emvula said.

Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa on Friday urged parties to respect each other’s mobilisation materials.

“We have put [materials] on poles, on trees, and everything there. This is to say we may not indulge in activities that are not appropriate,” she said

Shaningwa said parties should be mindful of what the materials cost.

“It cost each and every political party some thousands of dollars. And therefore, signing the code of conduct also means we all have to protect the ideas,” she said.

Independent Patriots for Change general secretary Christine !Aochamus encouraged political players to contest the election maturely.

“Allow everyone the space to do what we are entitled to by the Constitution – practising and exercising our rights.

“We also wish all the political parties well. Let’s play the ball and not the man,” she said.

National Democratic Party president Martin Lukato said the code of conduct binds political parties to promote democracy, peace, and the rule of law.

“At this stage, I’m calling on our guerrilla fighters, those who are in different regions of Namibia: Don’t provoke any political party or any supporter of a political party.”