IMAGE: Swapo Party of Namibia
Namibia’s ruling party made a host of commitments in its manifesto for the 2019 elections. Over coming weeks we assess the party’s performance on these commitments
The Swapo Party of Namibia is the only political party that has governed in independent Namibia since 1990, which is why it is the only political party that has a history of governance and government. This means that the ruling party is the only political party whose performance as a government can be measured against its election manifestos.
The Swapo Party Election Manifesto 2020 – 2025 is an 89-page document that extols the party’s liberation and governance history and lists its achievements in the run-up to the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections. The manifesto does not contain promises, but rather lists ‘commitments’ to undertake certain actions or implement specific measures over the indicated five-year period. The use of the word “commitment” is a departure from the 2014 Swapo Party manifesto, which used the word “promise” throughout.
Under the slogan “Inclusive development and shared prosperity”, the party’s 2019 manifesto outlines 15 broad priority areas under which the commitments are listed.
These 15 priority areas are listed as the following sections of the manifesto:
- Rule of law and justice
- Economy and employment creation
- Infrastructure
- Youth
- Education and training
- Health care
- Land delivery
- Housing delivery and sanitation
- Information, communication and technology
- Climate change and environmental sustainability
- Women and children
- Social welfare and vulnerable groups
- Veterans of the national liberation struggle
- Defence and security
- International relations
The 2019 ruling party manifesto altogether contains 306 commitments made for the period 2020 – 2025. The priority area with the most commitments listed is “Economy and employment creation”, with 125 commitments.
The priority area with the least number of commitments is “Veterans of the national liberation struggle”, with just four (4) commitments.
It is these commitments, or some of them, that Namibia Fact Check will look to verify against the party’s actual delivery performance over the next month or so, using credible and official sources of data and information.
Also check out our article on why it is important to read political party manifestos, at the following link:
Political party manifestos – Why you should read them