Die UPM se president en parlementslid, Jan van Wyk. Foto argief
Die UPM se president en parlementslid, Jan van Wyk. Foto argief

Need for divine intervention, says UPM

Augetto Graig
The United People’s Movement (UPM) will officially open its branch in Outapi in the Omusati Region today.

The party's president and member of parliament, Jan van Wyk, said it would be the first UPM branch since the party's establishment in 2009.

"The UPM continues to grow despite challenges. The party Kingdom of God, which is not yet registered in Namibia as a political party, will also officially be adopted as a branch of the UPM at the event," he said this week.

Focus on voters

With the official opening of the UPM's activities for this year on 10 January, Van Wyk said: "This year is probably the most important year for us and Namibia as a country, as the upcoming elections may bring possible changes to the Namibian landscape."

He urged UPM members “to be vigilant as we prepare for these elections. We pray for peaceful, free and credible elections. We are in the process of forming potential alliances to ensure that voters' voices are united for the benefit of the country," he explained.

"We will soon begin preparations for the 2024 election crusade, not a campaign as we have traditionally done. I urge all Namibians aged 18 and older to be ready to register as voters during the upcoming registration process," he added.

Peace and justice

The recent brutal murder of a Rehoboth woman has deeply affected Van Wyk, and he highlighted gender-based violence as a core challenge in Namibia, along with the possibility that the drought may persist if substantial and widespread rainfall does not occur soon.

The UPM's acting secretary-general and national secretary for information and publicity, Pastor Francis Huish, wrote to the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) last week about these issues. In his letter dated 12 January, Huish addressed a request to the CCN to organise a nationwide prayer session.

"It's as if the men of this country have become animals, given the rate at which women and children are abused, humiliated and murdered," Huish wrote.

"UPM is convinced that the country needs divine intervention to stop these actions," he noted.

The UPM specifically asks churchgoers to pray on Sunday for God to bless Namibia with rain, to intervene in the lives of men, to protect mothers, daughters and children, and for this year's elections in Namibia and southern Africa to proceed peacefully, freely and justly.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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