EDITORIAL: Swapo donors and their expectations

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah struck an important note this week when she said donors at the Swapo fundraising dinner last week should not expect any favours from the party or its government in return.

The jury is still out on whether this was merely podium rhetoric or a genuine promise.

In the fullness of time, we will see whether this was just empty talk to appease those questioning the motives of donors ahead of the November election or if it signifies that the country is entering a new era of transparency.

In the past, businesses scrambled to lick Swapo's boots to secure state tenders, mining concessions and fishing quotas. Donations were the way to Swapo’s fragile heart.

Nandi-Ndaitwah’s remarks on Monday may, in fact, have come as a shock to many of those who made the generous donations, expecting they would be rewarded as usual. Our national resources have previously been used as bait for political expediency, a practice both criminal and unfair. Political parties cannot use state contracts, cadre deployment and other nefarious methods to seek parochial benefits.

At the height of the Fishrot thievery, a state-owned company channelled millions of dollars to Swapo, camouflaged as ‘government objective’ resources.

Swapo might be the ruling party, but it is not government. Those behind these schemes hoped that one day, when their corruption was exposed, they could leverage those donations as a means of salvation. We therefore hope Nandi-Ndaitwah is a woman true to her words – because this country craves upright leadership and governance.