By Stefanus Nashama

Former Mineworkers Workers Union general secretary Ebben Zarondo has thrown his name in the hat for the race of the Omatako constituency, ahead of the regional council and local authority elections in November, on the ticket of the SWAPO Party.  In an interview with Confidente, Zarondo unveiled his development plans for the constituency and expressed confidence that through his candidacy, SWAPO will “wrestle the constituency out of the hands of NUDO” won last grabbed the area from SWAPO.  Zarondo said he plans on prioritizing agricultural reforms, heath care, expediting land servicing at Okandjira Settlement, youth empowerment, job creation, farmer workers’ issues and the expansion of the boundaries of the communal area, among others.  “On agriculture, I have a hybrid strategic system which caters for both commercial and communal farmers.  This plan will ensure that cattle and poultry farmers are producing animals both for their own consumption, as well as to supply meat to the schools in the constituency. This plan focuses on value addition and retaining much-need jobs within Omatako,” explained Zarondo.   “The second arm of this hybrid agricultural plan will encourage gardening, so that we address the issue of food security at homes while equally supplying our schools with tomatoes, onions, potatoes and other produce.”  Beyond agriculture, Zarondo pledged to accelerate land servicing for inhabitants of Okandjira which was declared a settlement December 2008, however the politician is of the opinion that process of formalizing the area, has been moving at a snail’s pace.  “I plan on bringing services such as Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA), a retailer and other government essential services, so that our people do not have to travel long distances for them. It is for this, important that land servicing at Okandjira is fast-tracked.”  He also vowed to address the exploitation of farm workers.  “Our farm workers are mistreated, underpaid and that has to come to an end. As a councillor, I will not sit and watch them suffer. I will do everything possible to save them from exploitation equally protect their employers. Coupled with this, I will take on the plight of generational farmworkers which of late has become a growing concern,” he said. He added that he would work with the Office of the Labour Commissioner and the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations to enforce fair labour practices and the disputes are resolved with the possible amount of time. On healthcare, Zarondo promised to fight for well-equipped and fully-fledged health centres at Okandjira, Osire, and Hochfeld clinics into operating around the clock.  “There is no need to have our clinics closing after hours since our people require care and treatment at all times. Turning these clinics into health centres will benefit our patients and improve the quality of health service delivery, as there will be a doctor on call, all the time” he said. Education also features prominently in his campaign pledges.  Zarondo plans to renovate schools, construct hostels to reduce long walking distances for learners, and establish a vocational training centre at Hochfeld to serve young people who want to pursue technical careers. “Our learners walk unreasonable distances to school. This affects them psychologically and their performance at school. If we have hostels, they will no longer suffer. They will have enough time to study and this will improve results,” Zarondo said. He said this crucial especially to children from vulnerable families and marginalized community whose parents on commercial farms in the area. On sport, Zarondo said he will bring sports facilities and centres to schools and to the community of Omatako. He also vowed to fight against crime by equipping the police with cameras to monitor crime situations, minimize stock theft, drug abuse and illegal hunting.He also plans to construct new roads in the constituency to ensure networking, including the Okahandja-Okondjatu and the Okandjira-Hosea Kutako International Airport roads.Zarondo said his vision is to modernize the constituency while addressing long-standing service delivery challenges that have hindered socio-economic progress.“If you consider the above plan carefully, you will see it is people-centred and will creat jobs especially for the young people by contracting their small and medium enterprises to carry-out these developmental plans.”