Swapo Party Secretary General Sophia Shaningwa has advised residents in the Zambezi Region to acquire national documents in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections in November this year.
Sophia Shaningwa said this at a Swapo rally at Kanono in the Sibbinda Constituency.
She emphasised the need to acquire identification documents for those without, saying not only is it important for citizens to be able to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election in November, but that it also gives them access to various government services.
"For myself to go to the university, for yourself to go to the university they will be needing an identification card of the republic of Namibia to get all that's needed to receive and go forward as far as education is concerned, for the elderly people to get pension in the republic of Namibia they must have an identification card for them to get the responsibility to get pension in Namibia, if not they are not going to get anything, now that we are talking about drought, if you are not a Namibian citizen, it will also be difficult for you to be considered because people might think you are coming from another country, and therefore I am hampering on the issue of having an identification card for us to get the services from government."
Shaningwa said that the nation cannot afford to have eligible citizens who do not register to vote and advised those without such documents to send a list of names through their regional offices in order to have them assisted.
"And that the national documents are not discriminatory; they can be given to Swapo Party supporters, they can be given to non Swapo Party supporters, all of us as citizens need this card to be given to each and every person, I think that must be very clear."
During her address, the secretary general said that much has been done in all fourteen regions of the country in terms of development and service delivery by the ruling party and asked that members continue to trust and vote for the party during the upcoming elections as much is yet to be done.
She touched on the subject of tertiary graduates who are unable to search for employment due to a lack of funds to clear off their school debts and receive their certificates of completion.
"We have already taken a decision in the cabinet that those NSFAF boys and girls who were in arrears and could not get their certificates because they didn't pay, we have taken a decision at the cabinet level that the certificates must be released because you cannot go and look for employment if you do not have any document, and we cannot punish you if your parents do not have money."
She said that students who have completed their tertiary studies should not be left without proof of their qualification, as this would allow many graduates an opportunity to search for employment, thereby allowing them to pay off their existing tertiary debt after they have secured jobs.