Rundu: Swapo Party lawmaker Elifas Dingara on Tuesday delivered his final address in the National Assembly, saying he is stepping down from the legislature to venture into farming and contribute to nation-building through agriculture. 'I am not leaving because I am done serving the people. I am leaving because I believe service can take many forms. Through agriculture, I intend to demonstrate practical nation building, creating value, supporting food security and contributing to economic transformation beyond political debate,' Dingara said.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Dingara said his journey in public life began in classrooms and in his rural village in the Kavango East Region, where he herded cattle, and later in trade union meetings and political mobilisation. Those experiences shaped his lifelong commitment to Swapo, workers, rural communities and public service, which he dedicated himself to after independence.
A veteran public servant who worked in several ministries before joining the labour movement and later active politics, Dingara described public service as his lifelong calling. 'Government must save the people, not the other way around. I was privileged to contribute to the development of human resource systems, decentralisation frameworks, training programmes, and governance manuals that continue to guide public administration today,' he said.
He first entered the National Assembly in 2010 on the ticket of the National Union of Namibian Workers, an affiliate of the ruling Swapo Party, while serving as president of the Namibia Public Workers Union. Dingara said his work in the labour movement remains one of his proudest achievements, noting that the fight for workers' rights shaped his understanding of economic justice.
He also defended his 2023 motion proposing that every Namibian be given N.dollars 1 million to alleviate poverty. 'This was not a slogan. It was a structured socio-economic proposal grounded in economic principles. Namibia is rich, yet many Namibians remain poor. The difficult questions raised were not weaknesses. They were invitations to refine and build consensus,' he said.
Dingara said Parliament must remain a platform for bold ideas as 'without courageous thinking, nations stagnate.' 'I leave active parliamentary service without regret and without bitterness. Leadership is about knowing when to pass the baton with dignity,' he said, adding that he will remain an active member of the Swapo Party.