Karasburg Debacle Might Increase Voter Apathy

Keetmanshoop — The recent suspension of the Karasburg town council might lead to voters losing trust in the democratic political set-up in the //Kharas region.

This is the view of political analyst Rui Tyitende, who told New Era that this incident might mean any political party may capitalise on it by virtue of gaining political support.

“In politics, infighting will always be there at the expense of voters who want to put their trust in their preferred leaders,” he commented. The analyst said incidents like this may lead to voter apathy if leaders put their interests above those of the electorate.

“The big issue in politics of the day is leaders misusing State resources to enhance their personal benefit and those of selected supporters through nepotism, amongst others, which is detrimental to the developmental agenda of the country,” Tyitende noted.

He was reacting to the suspension on Friday of the entire Karasburg Town Council officials for reasons of financial mismanagement, disregarding proper HR processes, and political interference in administrative matters as well as their disregard of directives by urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni.

The suspended councillors are mayor Maria Veldskoen, Elia Hauwanga, Gregorius Ruhl, Frieda Amutenya, Nesmus Mupiya, Josef Witbooi, and Fransiskus Skeyer.

Four of the councillors were representing the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) in council, while the Swapo party had two representatives and the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) had one representative.

Uutoni appointed Elize Laubscher, former CEO of the Aroab Village Council, as administrator to administer council affairs on his behalf.

Skeyer, the LPM councillor and chairperson of the management committee, said when contacted for comment that he is not in a position to do so at this stage. “We first have to sit with the other councillors representing our party in order to issue a joint statement,” he responded.

Skeyer, Veldskoen and another council staff member were nabbed last year by the Anti- Corruption Commission for related offences.

In their recent social media post, the LPM’s national spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa argued that Uutoni’s decision was premature. “The minister should have allowed for the matter concerning the councillors to be concluded first in a court of law before making such a decision,” he opined.

A statement issued by the minister last Friday mentioned that Uutoni has for some time allowed the council space to put its house in order.

It also said the ministry would dispatch officials responsible for HR and finance-related matters to Karasburg to provide hands-on guidance.

Meanwhile, another Namibian daily newspaper recently reported that the relationship between LPM president Bernadus Swartbooi and his deputy Henny Seibeb seems to be souring. Locals reasoned that this might heavily influenced that party’s performance in upcoming Presidential and National Assembly as well as Regional and Local Government elections. The LPM is currently in control by virtue of a political majority in both the //Kharas and Harap regions.

Probed by this publication, Swapo councillor Elia Hauwanga said he is content with the minister’s decision, saying: “Council was warned late last year to reverse decisions of maladministration and even summoned by the minister, whereby the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) councillors opted not to go or comply”.