By: Vetondouua Tjivikua
President of the Association of Local Authorities of Namibia (Alan) Katrina Shimbulu says the withdrawal of Landless People’s Movement (LPM) from the organisation is not a loss to the association.
On Sunday, LPM leader Bernardus Swartbooi said that the party’s southern local authorities would withdraw from Alan because the organisation is of no use to the people.
According to Shimbulu, no one is forced to become a member of Alan; therefore, if a member wants to pull out, they are freely allowed to do so by following the withdrawal policies of the organisation.
She further stated that the decision to withdraw the southern local authorities would not cause much damage to the organisation because some local authorities are not paid up members and are not on good books with Alan due to not making their payments.
“If a member doesn’t pay for more than three years, it is not allowed to sit with the congress,” she told The Villager.
Shimbulu said the majority of the southern local authorities are not paid up members of Alan.
LPM rules Hard and //Karas regions.
She said Alan works with all local authorities and not with parties. If the local authorities choose an individual member of any party, the association has no right to reject this member but instead work with them.
She further denied Swartbooi’s allegations that Alan was being used by the ruling party to spread its influence.
“We are not dealing with parties in Alan”, she said.
Quizzed on whether Swartbooi’s comments regarding Alan’s usefulness, she said, “Maybe he’s right because since our term came to an end, we didn’t do much because we were delayed by corona.”
Shimbulu, a former Oshakati town councillor and mayor, was voted out of the position in the 2020 regional and local authority elections and will be relinquishing power as president of Alan in April when the organisation holds its congress.
“As an elected organisation, we have to adhere to the regulations put forth in the country, but the organisation is busy preparing for the congress so that the old board members can hand over the management to new leaders,” she said.
“When you pull your members, you leave members of other political parties who are members of Alan.
According to Swartbooi, the two southern regions will no longer be part of Alan, nor will membership fees be paid to the organisation.
“We have resolved to create with other regions an appropriate structure that will represent and advance the influence of political, ideological outlook and the development of the constituency that we represent,” he said.
He further stated that Alan is of no use to the interest of the people who voted for LPM.
“This organ is an empty time-wasting and resources wasting vessel”, Swartbooi said.
He indicated that the party would be speaking to other local authorities where it is represented to highlight their views about the duties of Alan.
“There is nothing to be gained by working with Alan. They have nothing to show to the people of this country.”
Alan is a body that represents all local authority members in Namibia. It provides a platform on which local authorities can air their grievances and offer better services.