Politics is not a love affair: Kavekotora

WINDHOEK, 25 Apr– Namibian opposition parties were too passive and failed to hold President Hage Geingob to account during his State of the Nation Address (SONA), Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) secretary general Mike Kavekotora has said.
In an interview with Nampa which covered an array of issues recently, Kavekotora accused his fellow opposition leaders of failing to rise to the occasion when it mattered most.
“They were too accommodative of the president and that is to the detriment of the people who voted for you,” Kavekotora said.
He, however, singled out Popular Democratic Movement President McHenry Venaani as the only politician to have asked Geingob pertinent questions on 11 April 2018.
“You can’t say you have nothing to say or ask the president during the SONA. Are you saying you are happy with the state of our economy? Are you saying housing isn’t a problem? Are you telling me that our health and education are in a sound state?” he said in reference to Swanu of Namibia Parliamentarian Usutuaije Maamberua, who reserved his questions on the day for a different platform.
The RDP secretary general went on to appeal to politicians, whether from the ruling or opposition parties, to be assertive.
“Be assertive, not passive. As a politician, when the president tells you that one plus one equals four, you must be able to stand up to him and say, ‘No Mr President, it’s not true’,” he said.
Kavekotora said politicians must understand that politics is not a love affair.
“You have to understand the game of politics and rules of the game. We are not in a game of love.”
On President Geingob’s SONA, Kavekotora acknowledged that the Head of State addressed some pertinent issues affecting the majority of Namibians.
“The value is not in what he says. The test lies in the implementation which we continue to fail in,” he said.
Another problem for Kavekotora was that Geingob “failed to highlight the failure of the Harambee Prosperity Plan”.
When approached by Nampa on Tuesday, Maamberua declined to comment, questioning why “those who feel others failed to hold the president accountable, did not ask questions themselves”.
Another opposition leader, Salmon Fleermuys of the Workers Revolutionary Party disagreed with Kavekotora.
“It is not true. I asked the president pertinent questions on human rights and conventions that Namibia is signatory to, but yet people are denied these rights,” said Fleermuys.
On the day, Fleermuys rose to request Government to recognise former South West Africa Territorial Forces and Koevoet members as veterans – which however, was shot down by Geingob.
(NAMPA)