PDM was denied and then allowed to use Gobabis’ Legare Stadium

Photo courtesy of PDM

Venaani claimed the party was not allowed to use the stadium, but the Gobabis council relented and allowed them to go ahead

 

On Friday, 1 November 2019, Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani tweeted the following:

This was in response to the party having requested the use of the stadium for an election campaign rally at Gobabis, scheduled for Sunday, 3 November 2019.

The sequence of correspondence concerning this matter was as follows:

  • On 18 October 2019, the PDM wrote to the Municipality of Gobabis, to among others request the use of the Legare Sport Complex for a party election campaign rally on 3 October 2019;
  • On 23 October 2019, the Gobabis municipality communicated to PDM that the request to use Legare stadium – Field B – had been approved;
  • On 28 October 2019, the PDM wrote back stating that they wish to make use of Field A, which has covered seating, while Field B had no seating and was just a flat field;
  • On 30 October 2019, the Gobabis municipality once again responded, stating that Field A could not be used as it was being rehabilitated and would only be ready by end February 2020, while Field B was available. In the correspondence the municipality also revealed that Field A had been used for a ruling party rally on 19 October 2019, which was attended by ruling party and national president Hage Geingob, because a security assessment had determined that Field A at the complex was best suited for the event;
  • On 1 November 2019, the PDM responded and demanded to be allowed to use Field A at Legare stadium for the campaign rally of 3 November 2019.

It was also on the afternoon of 1 November 2019 that PDM leader Venaani tweeted the earlier statement.

However, following the correspondence, at some point over the weekend of 2-3 November 2019, the Gobabis authorities relented and allowed the PDM rally to take place on Field A at Legare stadium on 3 October 2019.

PDM rally-goers on the Field A covered seating at Gobabis’ Legare stadium on 3 November 2019. Courtesy McHenry Venaani

Despite this, in the aftermath of the event, PDM leader Venaani never acknowledged the Gobabis council about-face or corrected his tweet about being denied access to Field A of Legare stadium at Gobabis.

 

 

 

 

Mostly True

Based on the evidence and/or best available data / information the statements or claims assessed in this article are mostly true.

12th November 2019

Martha Nangolo

Martha Nangolo is a researcher for Namibia Fact Check and a research associate of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)