Maria David
“NAMIBIA belongs to all of us. It does not belong to the Tanganyika group alone. We recognise the role they played in the liberation struggle, but it is now our time to take over. A new broom is here and it will clean the Namibian house.”
That is the message of Tangy Mike Tshilongo, the brains behind a new political movement named Advocate for Change (AC).
Although the party was not yet formed officially, Tshilongo stated its aims and objectives as “uplifting and empowering the lives of the people”.
“Our generation has a mission to accomplish,” said Tshilongo.
According to him, the first generation of freedom fighters had the mission of protecting the land from intruders, while the second generation of freedom fighters had to go into exile before taking up arms to liberate the country.
“We do acknowledge their contribution, but now their time is up and they need to go and rest. By demanding a better today, we are not abusing them because they themselves already admitted that they failed the nation for the past 28 years,” he said.
He further said that young people can no longer trust Swapo to lead for the next five years. “As young people, we intend to march towards a better Namibia and we will challenge the dominant political elite in next year’s elections,” he said.
He said his new political movement will conduct a survey in all 14 regions to identify the problems of the people and at the same time introduce the party to the public and attract members, targeting mostly the youth.
AC candidates will contest at all levels, including the presidential election, National Assembly, as well as at regional and local levels with the aim of taking over from, “the elderly councillors who are unable to bring about transformation in their respective constituencies and towns”.
“As young people we should not betray the mission of our generation. We have to fulfill our mission and be the role model of next generation,” said Tshilongo.
He noted that the idea of establishing the AC came as an antithesis for the rampant corruption and self-enrichment by current leaders.
