The Swapo Party will not turn its new headquarters into a hospital despite the public outcry over the construction of the multi-million dollar building opposite the ‘dilapidated’ Katutura State Hospital.

In her annual address to employees of Swapo on Wednesday, the party’s Secretary-General Sophia Shaningwa said the building is nearing completion and calls to turn it into a hospital cannot be entertained, because the design of the building is not suitable for medical practitioners.

“Some have been calling on us to turn the headquarters into a hospital. No… we cannot do that, because the provisions for doctors doing surgeries and all medical activities are not there. But give us time, if the community wants a hospital, surely we will see if we can stretch our finances,” said Shaningwa.

She noted that there is land available in front of the headquarters, which could be donated for the construction of a hospital if there is an investor willing to fund its construction.

“The founding fathers and mothers of Swapo bought that land for the party, if people insist that they want Swapo to build them a hospital, then so be it. We will see who the party can partner with to build a hospital for the people. It is not about what we say, it is about what they demand,” stated Shaningwa.

She further called on party members and affiliated companies to keep contributing to Swapo for the sake of sustaining the party financially in order to benefit future generations.

She also announced that the party has distributed donation books to all its branches in all 14 regions to record all donations for the sake of accountability and make it easy for auditors when auditing the party books.

Source: Namibia Press News Agency