A new political party, "Body of Christ," has registered with the Electoral Commission of Namibia.

The party's leader, Bishop Festus Thomas, says his movement is about respecting and upholding biblical principles while also focusing on the family unit and traditional Namibian and African values.

Even though the Body of Christ was established five years ago in Ondangwa, the party was only now registering because it had to meet the requirements of the electoral act.

"We had to do our own quality assurance and due diligence to ensure that once you're registered, you're registered in accordance with the framework of the electoral act. The act places obligations on political parties to fulfill certain things. We have had difficulties and challenges with parties that are already registered with the ECN when it comes to compliance issues, so this is the number one thing that we would like to remind you to do as soon as you start your new life as a fully registered political party," explained Theo Mujoro, Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer at the ECN.

Thomas Festus says the Christian party will focus on genuine political decision-making as opposed to commenting and criticizing from the sidelines.

"We invited the parliament to meet the church halfway; I think the parliament hesitated sometimes. We decided that if the parliament could not come to the church, we would bring the church to the parliament so that we could all sit together and discuss the significance of public lives."

Bishop Thomas says it is time communities go back to upholding the values of the church. 

"We are 95% Christian in this country. But we still see our constitutions, our laws, and our policies in our country becoming mere words. People need to be reminded, and the secular state must be reminded, that without God, people are base. God must be involved in whatever we are doing in reality, not only in our mouths but deep down in our hearts."