Swapo member of parliament Hamunyera Hambyuka has told Swapo supporters that if they do not vote for Swapo and its candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, they will not go to heaven.
He says they would also not go to hell as Satan would refuse them entry as well.
Hambyuka was speaking at a Swapo campaign rally at Rundu on Saturday.
“Satan will tell you that you voted wrong. What you did was wrong and you have to go back because I also don’t want you. If Satan will reject you, where will you go?” Hambyuka asked.
Hambyuka, who is also the ruling party’s chief whip in the National Assembly, said “I don’t want you to commit such a big mistake. Try to do the right thing for you to go to heaven.”
He said some political parties are confusing people.
He said when people get food from the opposition they should eat, but not vote for them, as he did in 1989.
That year he and others ate food from the DTA and Koevoet, but when elections came, they voted for Swapo.
“We would run and pick up the cans and eat, but we were not going to vote for them. So for you who have accepted their money, eat if it was given to you and go vote for Swapo,” he said.
“Don’t waste your time and look for the cockroaches. Don’t waste your time. Cockroaches and lizards are coming here,” he said regarding the ballot.
He said boreholes repaired by opposition parties were drilled by the government.
“Don’t refuse to drink the water, and don’t be afraid that it’s going to be poisoned to kill you. They should just fix the broken boreholes and drink the water, but when 27 November comes, all of you take your voter’s cards and go vote for Swapo,” he said.
Asked whether his comments do not constitute hate speech, Hambyuka yesterday told The Namibian: “Yeah, it’s that. What I have said, they should just concentrate on our party”.
Popular Democratic Movement spokesperson Hidipo Hamata says it is hypocritical for Swapo to position themselves as authorities on biblical matters when they are yet to address atrocities committed against their forefathers.
“They are an organisation that appears to rely on manipulation and fear rather than integrity and accountability, perhaps hoping that Satan will come to their rescue. It is ludicrous for a leader to campaign on biblical grounds, especially when they have failed to deliver on basic promises, such as providing identification cards to the people,” Hamata says.
He says Swapo should be ashamed of themselves for thinking religious rhetoric can erase the fact that they have stolen millions of dollars through the Fishrot scandal.
Hamata says Hambyuka’s comments are not only inappropriate, but also disrespectful to the intelligence and spiritual beliefs of the Namibian people.
“His attempt to use religion as a political tool is disgraceful. Hambyuka should sit down and reflect on the damage his party has done to this country instead of resorting to fear-mongering and religious manipulation,” he says.
United People’s Movement president Jan van Wyk says Hambyuka should be ashamed of himself for trying to play “Christ”.
“Some politicians claim to be Christians, however their deeds show the opposite and Hambyuka’s remarks are a clear testimony of it,” Van Wyk says.
Political analyst Henning Melber says Namibian politicians should do better.
He says voters should be cautious and think twice if this is the attitude they want to endorse.
“Voting behaviour should be a rational choice based on political programmes. Leave the rest to the churches. Using such genocidal language as this example shows, should be a reason for charges of hate speech,” he says.
He says Swapo should distance itself from Hambyuka.
He should be disqualified for office for instigating hatred of this kind, which undermines the political peace and stability for which Namibians can be proud of so far. His language is disgusting and deserves unreserved condemnation. There is no excuse for such outbursts, he says.
This is not the first time the Swapo campaign has used the Bible or hate speech at its campaigns.
In 2019, Swapo secretary general Sophia Shaningwa urged party members and supporters to hit the insect on its head referring to opposition parties.
In April this year, former Oshakati mayor Katrina Shimbulu warned Swapo members to be careful of “ghosts” who promise voters lies.
In 2008, former president Hifikepunye Pohamba said Swapo members who joined the Rally for Democracy and Progress were traitors “like Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus”.
Prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila told a Swapo rally in the Oshana region in 2022 to keep Swapo in power “until Jesus comes back”.
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