Landless People's Movement (Namibia)

This article is about the political party in Namibia. For the social movement in South Africa, see Landless People's Movement.

Landless People's Movement
Abbreviation	LPM
President	Bernadus Swartbooi
Deputy Leader and Chief Strategist	Henny Seibeb
Treasurer General	Aina Kodi
National Events Coordinator	Ivan Skrywer
Operative Secretary	Edson Isaacks
Founded	2017
Registered	8 February 2019 (2019-02-08)
Split from	SWAPO
Headquarters	11 Sauer Street Windhoek Khomas Region
Student wing	LPM Youth and Student Command Element
Ideology	Social democracy [1] [2] Democratic socialism [3] Land reform [4] Agrarian reform [4] Progressivism Federalism [1]
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing [3]
International affiliation	Progressive International
Colors	Orange   Black   Green
Slogan	Restoring Our Dignity
Seats in the National Assembly	4 / 104
Seats in the National Council	6 / 42
Regional Councillors	12 / 121
Local Councillors	16 / 378
Pan-African Parliament	0 / 5
Website
www.lpmparty.org
Politics of Namibia Political parties Elections

The Landless People's Movement (LPM) is a political party in Namibia. It is led by former deputy Minister of lands and resettlement Bernadus Swartbooi, who serves as its President and chief change campaigner, and Henny Seibeb, the party's deputy leader. ^{[5] [6] [7]} The party has four seats in parliament, which are occupied by the Party's President, Bernadus Swartbooi, Mootu Utaara, Isaacks Edison and Seibeb Henry. ^[8]

History

The Landless People's Movement was formed after Bernadus Swartbooi, deputy minister of land reform, was fired by the late former President Hage Geingob in December 2016 after refusing to apologise to then Land Reform Minister Utoni Nujoma, whom he accused of resettling people from other regions into the south of the country ahead of the Nama. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Policies

Swartbooi has been a vocal advocate of land restitution and restorative justice for landless Namibians who were dispossessed of their land, including indigenous communities. ^[12] The party's youth wing is the LPM Youth and Student Command Element.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Result
2019	Bernadus Swartbooi	22,542	2.70%	LostN
2024		51,160	4.65%	LostN

National Assembly elections

The party took part in the 2024 Namibian general election and gained one seat in the Parliament of Namibia, in addition to its previous four seats, which the party won in the 2019 Namibian general election. Its leader, Bernadus Swartbooi, was the party's presidential candidate and achieved the fourth strongest support nationally by receiving 4.65% of the national vote. ^[13]

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Result
2019	Bernadus Swartbooi	38,956	4.75%	4 / 104	New	3rd	Opposition
2024		56,971	5.21%	5 / 104	1	5th	Opposition

Regional Councilors elections

In 2023, Keetmanshoop by-election, LPM candidate Petrus Labuschagne won by 1,270 votes to claim victory for Keetmanshoop Rural Constituency Regional Councilor. ^[14]

References

1. The Constitution of the Landless People’s Movement
2. "Namibia: Economic and Political Overview" . Retrieved 2023-10-15.
3. "Opposition parties say PDM coalition efforts too late". Windhoek Observer . 30 August 2019. Archived from the original on 14 September 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
4. Miyanicwe, Clemans (11 November 2019). "LPM launches climate-focused manifesto". The Namibian . p. 6. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
5. Cloete, Luqman (8 May 2018). "Landless People's Movement wants Geingob to apologise". The Namibian . p. 5.
6. "LAND OWNERSHIP LOBBY GROUP FORMS POLITICAL PARTY". Saba-news.org. 13 September 2018. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
7. "Landless People's Movement seeking restorative justice". Lelamobile.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
8. "Landless People's Movement (LPM) – Namibian Parliament" . Retrieved 2022-05-23.
9. "Geingob fires Swartbooi". The Namibian . Retrieved 8 January 2019.
10. "I was fired by thieves - Swartbooi - Politics". Namibiansun.com. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
11. "The Villager Newspaper Namibia". www.thevillager.com.na. Archived from the original on 2021-10-24. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
12. "Swartbooi slams Govt's resettlement programme". Lelamobile.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
13. "2024 Presidential/National elections". elections.my.na.
14. Sun, Namibian; Ndjembela, Toivo (2023-05-16). "#JustIn: Final results for the Keetmanshoop Rural Constituency by-election". Namibian Sun. Retrieved 2023-05-18.