BETWEEN 2015 and 2023, N$1.3 billion of taxpayer dollars were dished out to political parties represented in Parliament.

Broken down, between 2015 and 2020, taxpayers coughed up N$679.5 million for political parties. From 2020 to 2023, N$592 million was allocated to political formations from the State’s purse.

Despite the public investing millions into these political entities, year in, year out, little is known on how this money is spent or in whose pockets it end up.

In essence, once the millions leave the Treasury and enter the bank account of a political party, transparency and accountability meet their maker.

Of course, like any organisation, political parties too, do have operational expenditures and day-to-day affairs to run, bills to pay and campaigns to finance every now and then.

However, truth be told, most political parties are run like briefcase companies and have little to nothing to show for the millions they receive. So where does the money go?

A New Era report this week lifted the veil on a situation where accountability, especially when it comes to political party funding, does not exist.

Worse, without the necessary teeth to keep parties in check, the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s hands - under whose auspices party funding resorts – are tied.

Consequently, most parties spent the public millions at their discretion, including on opulent items such as purchasing vehicles for leaders and their spouses; dishing out loans to finance private agricultural activities of their leaders; paying leaders double salaries; and, in some instances, paying politicians whose roles have been reduced to sitting at home since being ejected from the National Assembly.

Some parties are also using taxpayer funds to reward their politicians for party work, a direct contravention of the Electoral Act of 2014, which directs how funding received from the State purse may be used.

Going into specifics, last year, Swapo received N$97.5 million from the Treasury. They were followed by PDM in second, who pocketed N$19.5 million. In third was the Landless People’s Movement who received N$10.8 million.

In fourth place was the United Democratic Front with N$4.3 million. The National Unity Democratic Organisation collected N$3.2 million from the State’s purse.

Meanwhile, the Independent Patriots for Change, the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters, Republican Party, and All People’s Party received N$2.2 million each last year. Based on their single seats, the rest of the parties and individuals got N$1.1 million each.

However, amid the storm, it is apparent most of the funds allocated to these political bodies, through Treasury, either end up in private bank accounts of their leaders and benefit their friends and cronies in one way or the other.

Little to nothing is mentioned about how these political parties have used or are using what they are deriving from the public to uplift the community socially and economically.  

These are the very communities [electorate] who braved the unforgiving heat, unfavourable weather conditions and long queues to vote for these parties. 

Depending on the total amount dispensed during a given financial year, political parties share the amount proportionally, based on the number of seats they have.

In essence, the more seats a party has across the National Assembly and National Council, the more money it collects from Treasury. 

Without votes, these political parties would be nowhere near the public millions.

This is perhaps information that not every Namibian is privy to. 

This, reasonably, could be the reason why the public does not demand openness from these political parties who simply have a carte blanche to spend taxpayers’ monies.

In the business world, companies have a corporate social responsibility, a self-regulating model that helps an organisation to be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.

If we were to treat political parties like businesses, the voters ought to expect return on their investment.

Political parties have a duty to provide basic services to the masses with what they receive from the Treasury.

Swapo being the governing party, it is difficult to apportion blame on them, as a counter argument could be that its projects and policies, as promised in their election manifestos, are being implemented by the government.

Therefore, for the party to be doing the same would be a duplication. Also, Swapo has a business arm and its companies operate in different sectors of the economy. It could also be argued that this is part of Swapo’s service to the people.

But with the children of the liberation struggle languishing in poverty at a Swapo farm outside Windhoek, or some liberation struggle veterans knocking on the government’s door, demanding millions, Swapo, as the organisation linked to these groups is duty-bound to meet the government halfway, in the context of the millions they get each year. 

The opposition cannot pretend to be innocent and throw stones at the ruling party either. 

They too, are raking in millions of dollars yearly, without any tangible contribution to unchain the masses from the yoke of poverty.

With the N$19.5 million, or N$10.8 million that PDM and LPM, respectively received, they could have investment in meaningful projects and initiatives, even at a miniscule scale, to show the masses what they are capable of doing, if given the mandate to govern.

The same goes for the other political parties.

So just like we expect businesses to plough back into the communities from where they operate, the same expectations should be placed on political parties that are recipients of public funds.

The status quo - wherein parties spent taxpayer funds on nice to have things with impunity and for self-enrichment - cannot continue unabated at the expense of the
voters.