Political parties have started issuing their manifestos some six months before the next National Assembly and Presidential elections. One of the first out of the blocks is the South West Africa National Union (Swanu). Historically, Swanu has sought to establish a socialist state in Namibia. As such it has been one of the few options for voters on the left of the political spectrum.
However, the party’s manifesto for the 2009 elections, entitled ‘Swanu Cares for the People’, underplays the party’s radical credentials. In fact, the word ‘socialist’ only appears once – on page 12 of the 13-page document.
Instead the manifesto starts off with a statement from Swanu President Usutuaije Maamberua which emphasises political tolerance, national unity, promotion of democracy, the rule of law and justice for all as the party’s main political priorities. This introductory statement then goes on to list a series of grievances about the democratic process, which includes the use of hate speech, unfair airtime allocation by the NBC, the current party funding system, and the printing of ballot papers by a Swapo-owned company. In addition, the party does not want pencils to be used by voters when marking ballot papers.
Since Swanu is a socialist party, one might expect the running of the economy and the land issue to take centre stage in the manifesto. One of the party’s historic slogans was “Patji! Ngarikotoke” (“Give back the land to the people”). In fact, the manifesto is surprisingly vague about the land issue. It says the “programme of land acquisition must be based on the number of people who need land and also when this is translated into number of families.” The manifesto adds that land should be acquired through the payment of “benchmark tariffs” set by “farm regulatory bodies”. The manifesto concludes on land by saying “acquisition must be done in the public interest. Once acquisition has been achieved there should be resettlement criteria that are not ambiguous and do not favour those who have opportunities of buying farms.”
On the economy, there are more signs of the party that said in 2004 that it stood for the public ownership of the means of production. A Swanu government would “restructure the foreign-owned mining and marine industries to partner with general low-income and rural-based cooperatives (communities) in shareholdings.”
When in government the party would ensure the criteria for BEE would target the “poorest of the poor” with the emphasis being on communities rather than individuals as beneficiaries. There are a number of populist measures which the party would introduce, including increasing pensions for the elderly, abolishing fees for tertiary education students who cannot afford to pay, and getting rid of “exorbitant” rural water bills. The Swanu government “would give more money to development institutions like Agribank and National Housing Enterprise to for the creation of manufacturing industries, housing and so on.”
One of the more radical policies would be a universal health insurance for all Namibians to be funded by the private sector and public sector. There are several mentions of the need to introduce a Marshall Plan (referring to the US plan for rebuilding western Europe after World War II) to invest in poor and disadvantaged communities. Manufacturing would be boosted through public investment, but there is little detail on how exactly this would be implemented.
The manifesto is silent or very hazy on how all of this would be funded. There is no mention of changes to the current tax system for either individuals or companies. And while the manifesto talks of boosting public spending in several areas, particularly health and education, there is no suggestion of cuts being made to other ministries’ expenditure.
On government performance, Swanu would seek to institute professional standards and non-partisanship in the civil service. The party objects to the imposition of the Swapo election manifesto on civil servants, arguing that the document has no legal basis. On corruption, a Swanu government will strengthen institutions such as the Office of the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee to ensure accountability.
In terms of education the Swanu government will put more emphasis on “vocational/professional opportunities” while strengthening the mandate of the Polytechnic to produce more “technical graduates as opposed to degree candidates”.
Other measures proposed by the party include creating a legal aid commission, a legal parliamentary commissioner (to protect human rights), and more effective decentralisation matched by public investment in rural areas.
Although the language of the manifesto is markedly less radical than Swanu’s Guiding Principles produced for the 2004 elections, it is also much vaguer and unclear in parts. The lack of clarity and poor presentation of ideas is surprising for a party that has in the past been accused of being dominated by intellectuals and academics rather than ordinary people.
• Election Watch will endeavour to review all the parties’ manifestos in the run up to the November 2009 elections
Who is the party’s leader?
The Swanu President is Usutuaije Maamberua, who is a senior lecturer in the department of accounting at the University of Namibia.
Does the party have a website?
Yes, at http://www.swanu.org.na
More about the party
Swanu was formed in 1959 and initially acted as an umbrella movement for the nationalist campaign against South African occupation. However, in the 1960s it lost ground to Swapo, which became Namibia’s leading liberation movement. Swanu opposed South African rule throughout the 1970s and 1980s and refused to join various ‘interim governments’. Since independence the party has never gained more than 2 percent of the vote and has never had its own seat in the National Assembly. However, in the 2004 Regional Council election, the party did win the constituency of Otjombinde in the Omaheke region.
Standout policies
• Restructure foreign-owned mining and fishing companies
• Target BEE towards the poor
• Boost manufacturing through public investment
• Introduce universal health insurance
• Expand legal aid
Election Watch is a project of the Institute for Public Policy Research in Windhoek, Namibia.