The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) has promised to address unemployment by allowing a business-friendly environment if elected into power.
The party held a rally at Katima Mulilo on Sunday.
The IPC’s president, Dr. Panduleni Itula, said for businesses to flourish and create employment, taxes need to be lowered, adding that the current rates prevent business owners from expanding and investing.
“Why do we have unemployment in this country? Because we have no businesses to employ people. Why do we have no businesses to employ people? Because the tax in this country is high up here at 31/32, so if the tax is up there, no business wants to expand; no business wants to invest in a country where the money that you are working hard for is being taken away into the tax coffers.”
He said an IPC-led government will give small businesses a chance to thrive before they need to pay their dues.
“The only way to give jobs is to create a business environment conducive to expanding the business, so we are going to reduce the tax regime to 22, and that means that the business community will be able to invest in their business, expand, and get bigger, and then they will employ more people; the more people there are employed, the more the hunger and poverty will be reduced and disappear, and if we make sure the small businesses are not taxed until they get profit above N$2 million, it will allow those businesses to grow and employ more people and expand so that the branches can actually spread beyond Katima Mulilo so that we have more people employed around the country.”
Dr. Itula promised to improve on decentralization, noting that the Zambezi Region relies heavily on other towns and regions with regard to key services.
“Why do we have no adequate hospitals in this country? Why do we have people transferred from Katima Mulilo 12 hours to Windhoek? Some die between Katima and Rundu. These are the evils that were created over 34 years by this government.”
He also announced that he will visit various villages in the Zambezi Region, where he will explain the party’s manifesto to residents over the next few days.
The party also welcomed 158 new members during the rally.