APP to prioritise agriculture, education and land

Education, agriculture, and land issues are the top priorities for the All People's Party (APP) as it prepares to contest in the upcoming general elections on 27 November 2024. The party's newly elected president, Ambrosius Kumbwa, said on Wednesday that the party is set to launch its election manifesto in Rundu on 05 October. During a press briefing in Windhoek, Kumbwa said APP will advocate for free education, food production, and the powers of traditional authorities over communal land. 'There is a need to look into the agricultural sector. In Windhoek, people go to the shop and buy tomatoes. Where these tomatoes come from, we don't know. But Namibia has enough, vast land, especially in the Zambezi, Kavango East, and Kavango West, and also within the triangle set up of Tsumeb, Grootfontein and Kombat. So, our people are not capacitated with means of producing and processing food for self-consumption and export,' he said. Kumbwa, representing the APP in the Divundu Village Council, also expressed conce rn about the poor standard of education in Namibia, with the teacher-learner ratio being one of the biggest challenges to the education system. 'You get a classroom with one teacher and 60 learners in a class. In my region (Kavango East) specifically at Ndama, you get 120 learners in one class. They share a small chair. This is a challenge,' Kumbwa said. The opposition leader further claimed that government ministries have sidelined traditional leaders in the administration of communal land. 'The power of traditional authorities in their jurisdiction is still a problem. By law, traditional authorities supposedly have broader power to govern communal land, but they are powerless,' he said. Meanwhile, APP elected new leadership during its fourth national congress held in Rundu last month. Following the elective congress on 07 September 2024, the party has also finalised its parliamentary list. The 50-member list includes a diverse group of individuals from all 14 regions, consisting of 30 males and 20 femal es. Source: The Namibia News Agency