SWAKOPMUND
President of the Swapo Party, Hage Geingob has noted that the party has endured some challenges and shortfalls over the past five years, and specifically since him assuming office as Namibia’s president in 2015.
According to Geingob, the country traversed a period of economic headwinds because of a commodity crisis in 2014, resulting in a steep decline in Government revenue from 2015 and repeated droughts between 2016 and 2020, which were recorded to be the worst in a century.
This was followed by the advent of the COVID-19 global pandemic which arrived at the time when the government was hoping that there was light at the end of the tunnel in the form of projected economic recovery from 2020.
He however noted that the party did not mask its difficulties; it did not hide its mistakes and where it fell short, nor did it claim easy victories.
“On the contrary, the Swapo Party, which is built on the sacrosanct principles of integrity and truthfulness to the revolution, has been at the forefront of building a united Namibia.”
Geingob made these remarks at the opening of the seventh Swapo Party congress taking place in Windhoek on Friday.
According to Geingob, despite the tragedy and devastation caused by COVID-19, because of the effective leadership that the country has been able to provide through the Swapo Party-led Government, Namibia successfully pushed back against the worst effects caused by the virus.
“This we did by imposing temporary lockdowns; rolling out vaccines; providing much-needed medical equipment and supplies, estimated in excess of N.dollars 2 billion. Our COVID-19 strategy was lauded widely as on par with the best in the world,” he highlighted.
Geingob went on to stress that despite the number of challenges, the party has navigated successfully through challenges, which can be considered the worst since Namibia attained independence in 1990.
“We were successful in averting major crises because we have processes, systems and institutions that serve as the bulwark of our effective governance architecture. We were successful because we are a disciplined political party that marshals Namibians to hold hands and pull together in the same direction,” he said.
(NAMPA)
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
