National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) was among the first parties to launch its manifesto last month with a serious undertone to good corporate governance and social upliftment.

Education, health, land and land reform, agriculture and water, decentralisation, youth and sport, economic growth, democracy and institutions of governance, women empowerment and gender are all sectors that the party puts emphasis on as needing urgent attention.


Topping its 2009 election manifesto under its 'key policy areas' is the creation of a government of national unity, job creation, addressing rural water supply problems, the growing unemployment rate in the country and the scourge of HIV/AIDS that is wreaking havoc in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, as well as land reform.

NUDO's notion of a government of national unity would not be confined to central government but would include other levels of government. On education, NUDO says it will introduce a diversified education system that properly caters for the vocational and academic needs of the country. In addition, drastic changes are being considered by the party, such as free education up to Grade 12; reduction of subjects for individual learners from the current eight to six per learner in secondary schools; cutting teacher-student ratio from 35 to 30 for secondary schools, while primary schools will be 25 learners per teacher.


The party also intends to introduce incentives and attractive salaries to encourage teachers to work hard as well as take up positions in rural schools. Perks such as home ownership schemes for teachers in rural areas would be introduced.

On rural water supply, a NUDO government would ensure the provision of adequate water supply to all rural and urban areas for human, industrial and animal consumption on a partial cost recovery basis. The party advocates a total review of the community-based management strategy in consultation with local communities. It further stands for total write-off of debts accumulated due to the current government's failure to live up to its expectations. This will require that rural communities take management responsibilities for their water infrastructures.


The manifesto also addresses land reform and resettlement, committing the party to speeding up the process of land distribution and resettlement. The repossession of land owned by absentee landlords and underdeveloped and underutilised land is to be accelerated through the available legal channels. It also proposes the formulation of a single law on land and a second national land conference. It also wants to introduce communal land ownership in communal areas, oversee a more balanced resettlement policy, introduce a land tenure policy and set up a N$100-million drought relief fund.

On health, the party contemplates employing human resource experts and researchers to formulate a human resources health plan for the recruitment and retention of skilled health professionals in the public sector.

They would build clinics in a radius of 50 to 60 km; introduce a patient-nurse ration of 4:1 in hospital wards.

The party also adds that HIV/AIDS should be declared a national disaster in the country.

NUDO's manifesto further regards job creation as one of its number one priorities. It says too little has been achieved over the past decade with regard to job creation.


If elected, it would introduce policies and implementable programmes, which would significantly reduce the high levels of unemployment. These include both long and short-term strategies, it says. The long-term plan would give Namibia an industrial base, while the short- and medium-term programmes would focus on small business development, encouraging industries that add value to raw resources, outsourcing, export processing zones, agricultural cooperative arrangements and public works programmes.

It is also thinking of totally reviewing and amending the tender regulations to ensure that the national cake is distributed equitably and to give local building companies preferential treatment over foreign ones. It is to allow small and medium enterprises (SMEs) easier access to loans and to outsource government contracts to local firms and SMEs.

Tender rules are to change to allow regional governments to allocate tenders at their own accord, thus allowing for regional empowerment.

On international relations, a NUDO government would persuade regional blocs like SADC and the African Union to deepen democracy and good governance, such as holding free and fair elections. Several ministries will be scrapped and incorporated into other ministries. The targeted ministries are Safety and Security, which is to be incorporated back into the Ministry of Home Affairs; Information and Communication Technology, which NUDO believes can be downgraded to a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; youth ministry to be incorporated into the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs mandated to rest with the Defence Ministry. This will bring the ideal Cabinet to 27 ministries as opposed to current 31 under the SWAPO Party government.

Also as a token of appreciation, a NUDO government will rather donate the Old State House as a token of appreciation to the Founding President Sam Nujoma, instead of building an entirely new office for him.

New Era