The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) recently concluded a four-day capacity-building workshop in Windhoek tailored specifically for its regional authority candidates.
The training seeks to strengthen leadership and equip candidates with the skills to engage communities and address local challenges beyond election campaigns.
Friday's opening ceremony brought together delegates and community representatives from all 14 regions of Namibia for training in leadership, political organisation and community mobilisation.
The initiative aims to prepare both new and experienced candidates to serve as active community leaders and respond to the needs of their constituencies.
PDM's Secretary General, Manuel Ngaringombe, stated, "The aim of this training is to help you, to give you skills, to give you knowledge, as some of you are coming from the corporate world, some of you are in the education sector and many other sectors, some of you are veteran politicians, and some of you just came into politics."
PDM President McHenry Venaani urged candidates to maintain contact with communities long after elections, stressing the importance of practical action over political promises.
He also encouraged responsible use of the media and greater attention to pressing concerns, including youth unemployment, poor sanitation and the rising cost of living.
"It is important to remain constant, to remain present, even if it is just once a month that you appear as a candidate and say, 'This Monday we are going to pick up the dirt in this street, the cleanup campaign.' We are going to go to this school and try to help them clean the yard. We are going to do this for the conservants, we are going to do this for the farmers, or we are going to be in the radio for the farmers." Because if we don't do these things easily, we lose the connection between the population. That has expectations from leaders."
The workshop is supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, a German political foundation that works with strategic partners to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law.
Dr. Dennis Zaire is its Senior Programme Manager.
"The work of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation is designed to capacitate the people, because the thinking behind it is to make sure that the communities and the people are capacitated because democracy needs people to succeed. It needs forces, it needs political parties, it needs civil societies, and it needs active actors, and participation is central to a successful democracy. So without the people at the forefront and active participation, it will be difficult for democracy to actually survive."