WINDHOEK: The vice president of the National Empowerment Fighting Corruption (NEFC), Matheus Stefanus, said that the party is proceeding with its election campaign despite limited financial resources.
NEFC, established in 2020, is one of the smaller parties participating in the Presidential and National Assembly elections set for 27 November 2024. ‘The issue of resources as we know that political parties that do not have seats in the National Assembly, they are not allocated funds. It is a big challenge for us,’ Stefanus said in an interview with Nampa.
‘The lack of funds has affected the party in terms of campaigning because we cannot be everywhere. We don’t have enough money or cars to move around the country. But that will not discourage us because we can even walk to spread our message.’
The party was founded to empower communities by combating corruption, which Stefanus stated is now endemic in Namibia. On Tuesday, he submitted 32 candidate names for the National Assembly to the Electoral Commission o
f Namibia (ECN).
‘For us, we are not in a hurry, because our aim was always to represent the interests of the communities. Even if we did not get to parliament, we are already representing the people, when it comes to labour issues and addressing issues of corruption,’ Stefanus said.
He stated that the party’s name was inspired by the desire to combat corruption.
‘What motivated the name of the party was that corruption in Namibia is on the rise. So we felt that the moment you tackle corruption, it will benefit the economy. We are no longer going to have tenders and jobs for comrades or friends as well as sex for promotions. These are the things that we need to address in our society,’ according to Stefanus.
In addition to its efforts to combat corruption, NEFC also advocates for a social welfare grant of N.dollars 1 750 for all unemployed Namibians aged 18 to 59.
According to Stefanus, the issue is not about where the funding for the grant will come from, rather, Namibia needs to take ownership of 60 pe
r cent of its natural resources. The party is also advocating for the reinstatement of Bible and moral education, along with free education through to the university level.
Source: The Namibia News Agency