Namibian: Opposition leader promises to sell govt jet

DTA President McHenry Venaani says he will sell a multi-million government jet within days, if he wins the country’s presidential election, and has also promised to send Chinese manual labourers back to their country.

He said he would spend the proceeds from the sale of the jet to improve the living conditions of the rural poor.

Addressing a rally at Oshakati this past Saturday, Venaani said his administration would not be one of luxuries and bulletproof vehicles, but rather a government by and for the people.He promised to remove the veterinary cordon fence (VCF) or Red Line from Oshivelo to the Namibia-Angola border, thereby making northern farmers instant millionaires, as their cattle will fetch the same prices as their counterparts south of the Red Line.

“Meatco is currently paying communal farmers peanuts,” he said.
He accused the Swapo government of spending too little money on agriculture, while having a defence budget that percentage-wise was bigger than that of America.
“Why spend so much money on defence when there is no war?” he asked.

Venaani said the current government had failed to create jobs and has brought cheap foreign labour into the country.

“We will create jobs and stop manual labourers from China. I will send Chinese manual labourers back to Beijing and give our own people the opportunity to start their own businesses,” he said.
He further criticised the practice of demanding many years of experience when recruiting for jobs, saying it was a way of excluding young people.

Venaani said a DTA government will push back poverty and close the gap between poor and rich.
Instead of bailing out parastatals like Air Namibia, his government will bail out rural villagers, who owe the Directorate of Rural Water Supply huge amounts of money, so that they can make a fresh start.

Venaani said there is good reason why Swapo presidential candidate Hage Geingob attacks him wherever he goes.
“He is afraid,” Venaani said.
“That is why while we are holding a meeting here Swapo puts up a loud speaker across the road. That is political intimidation. They are doing this because they used to see poorly-attended DTA rallies, but now huge crowds are flocking to our rallies,” he said.

Venaani, who argued that all former fighters should be given war veteran status regardless of which side they fought on, said that such a move would enhance peace and the policy of national reconciliation.
“Peace is not maintained by the winners, but by the losers,” he said.
He went on to urge former SWATF and Koevoet soldiers to continue putting their demands forward in a peaceful manner.

“I agree that the current Veterans Act should be challenged in court,” he said.

The Namibian Sun