Yes, don’t let the bastards get you down!
SWAPO Party has a Christian, moral and proud history. It fought colonial-apartheid’s criminal occupation successfully. Peoples’ Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) fought and won a committed and legitimate war against those vicious racists, who, despite their sophisticated armed forces, their monopolistic media/propaganda machine and the massive assistance of the imperialist-racist West lost the bush war.
Cuito Canavale in southern Angola forced the criminals against humanity from Pretoria, Washington, London, Bonn then (Berlin today), Lisbon and Tel Aviv to negotiate Namibia’s independence.
On April 01, 1989 SWAPO was ready and able to return home, having paid the heavy price for democratic independence with their blood over a long period of time.
On 10 December 1959 – Human Rights Day – observed by the Congress Alliance throughout southern Africa, the colonial-apartheid police fired on a demonstration organised by the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO) at Windhoek location, killing thirteen and seriously wounding 32 others.
A few days later, the revered late Oliver R. Tambo – then attorney in Johannesburg, where he had shared his legal practice with former president, the equally respected Nelson Mandela – received an urgent message to take legal action to prevent the deportation from Windhoek within 72 hours of the four political leaders – Sam Nujoma and Nathan Mbaeva, president and secretary of the OPO (later SWAPO) respectively, and two leaders of the South West African National Union (SWANU).
Tambo took the next available flight to Windhoek, but as he stepped off the plane, two policemen and the Chief Bantu Affairs Commissioner accosted him. They told him there and then, as he did not have a permit to enter South West Africa, he was to take the next plane back to Johannesburg.
Despite legal arguments by Tambo, the colonial-apartheid officers adamantly insisted. They brought in armed reinforcements to monitor Tambo during his overnight stay at Windhoek airport until the next plane flew him out.
A few days later, traditional leaders – Chiefs Hosea Kutako and Samuel Witbooi – sent a letter of complaint to the Secretary General of the United Nations. They wrote, “We find it very difficult to have our cases defended in the courts in South West Africa, where there are only white lawyers, who are not keen at all to help Africans. For that reason we asked Mr Oliver Tambo, a well-known African lawyer from the Union of South Africa, who on his arrival by air from Johannesburg, was not granted the necessary permit to enter South West Africa. In South West Africa, Africans have no lawyer to defend them.”
Meanwhile, Namibia’s Father of the Nation and Founding President, Comrade Sam Nujoma showed great foresight when he led the formation of SWAPO from the OPO to create a nationally united forum. During his visit to Monrovia on a tour of independent African states, Comrade Nujoma in his position as SWAPO president met with then head of SWANU, Jariretundu Kozonguizi, trying to unite the two movements. Both got on well with each other, debating South West Africa’s political situation. By then, Comrade president Nujoma had fled the December 1959 unrests in Windhoek to escape victimisation.
Unlike South Africa’s ANC, which was founded in 1912, Zimbabwe’s ZANU and ZAPU, who came out as victors from the Third Chimurenga when Comrade president Robert Mugabe won the recent elections with a comfortable 61.1% majority, unlike the freedom movements of other African countries, political organisation was born late in Namibia, but rapidly came of age, with huge following among the indigenous African Namibians for SWAPO Party.
However, SWAPO Party, ANC, MPLA, FRELIMO, Tanzania and Kenya’s ruling parties and many of the former struggle movements stick together as one big family, having set Africa free from European colonialism, apartheid and UDI and all their inhumane evils.
The Founding Father of both, the ruling SWAPO Party and Namibia, has played a significant role in organising the people of Namibia and conscientising them.
Nujoma led from the front. SWAPO Central Committee and the Politburo members too gave him their full support and even more, their trust.
This led to a close family bond that kept the movement, SWAPO, together like a big family ever since.
No Namibian enjoys such respect and prominence not only at home in Namibia, but also throughout Africa and the international community, as Nujoma does.
Under his leadership, SWAPO Party and its national and regional following was able to retain its moral high ground and its national support.
Namibia remains peaceful, stable and working. Namibia does not capture the news headlines for all the wrong reasons such as for example, countrywide strikes and protest marches, because of non-delivery.
Namibians enjoy the freedoms they voted for and have access to their Father of the Nation and SWAPO Party to voice their grievances. They have the ear of the ruling party and its government. Throughout, SWAPO Party has remained a national people’s movement.
Attacks and criticisms from beneficiaries of former colonial-apartheid, from some of the hostile owners of the economy, were to be expected. All those crybabies seem to want is their status quo not to be tampered with.
They want to retain what they self-righteously entitle to be theirs traditionally and historically – the fat of the land. They do not want to share it, but want to enjoy the protection against the ‘restless’ indigenous African majority.
That fear of loss of privileges made them reject the hand of reconciliation.
But, don’t let the bastards get you down!
A Luta Continua!
• Udo Froese is a non-institutionalised, independent political and socio-economic analyst and columnist, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Currently visiting Namibia.
Twitter Handle: @theotherafrika
Visit my Blog: attheotherafrika.wordpress.com
By Udo W. Froese