Incoming leaders urged not to use positions for personal enrichment
SWAKOPMUND – The deputy secretary for the Swapo Party Women’s Council (SPWC), Fransina Kahungu, has called on election candidates and current leaders not to use leadership positions for their own selfish benefits.
Kahungu was speaking during a SPWC Erongo branch introduction of its women regional and local authority candidates for the upcoming elections here on Saturday.
According to Kahungu, leaders should desist from using their positions to commit corrupt acts such as illegal land deal acquisitions, and serve their communities first before themselves and with honesty and dignity.
“You are accountable to the electorate and should therefore be responsible in your dealings. In most cases, we put the Swapo party in disrepute because of our own greediness. Let me, therefore, warn you to put aside thoughts of self-enrichment or getting land,” she said.
Kahungu also challenged current and incoming leaders to understand why they have been elected into power and ensure that they have made an impact during their tenure as community leaders.
“We must always ask ourselves, after serving in a position for all these years, looking back, what developments have you brought about to the community? We should avoid making money the priority of being in a position and we should remember that we are representatives of a party (Swapo),” Kahungu alluded.
According to SPWC Erongo, the branch has reached another milestone on gender representation, whereby more women than men have availed themselves as candidates for regional and local authority positions.
For the first time in the Erongo region, five out of seven of its constituencies are being represented by female candidates, an act above the party’s expectations according to the party coordinator in the region, Daniel Muhuura, at the same event.
“The party has been advocating women and youth empowerment over the years and Swapo party in Erongo has finally met these expectations,” he noted.
The female candidates for the regional authorities are Benitha Imbamba, Arandis (current); Innecia Brand, Daures; Miina Hangula, Walvis Bay Urban; Hilma Shikongo, Walvis Bay Rural; and Melania Ndjego for Karibib constituency. The regional and local authority elections are slated for 25 November 2020.