PRESIDENT-ELECT Hage Geingob has been harshly criticised by some sections, including the incoming official opposition DTA, following his appointment of three officials for top positions in his incoming government.
Cheered by many, the designate appointments of Nickey Iyambo as vice-president, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila as prime minister and Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as deputy prime minister have also drawn jeers in some quarters.
The critics have pointed to the fact that all three appointees are from the same ethnic group, a situation they say was contrary to the President-elect’s famous ‘inclusivity’ slogan during election campaigns last year.
In truth, whether Geingob has reneged on his inclusivity promise or not cannot be known until he appoints his Cabinet next week Saturday. It is therefore a tad harsh, if not unscrupulously overzealous, to question his commitment to inclusive governance on the basis of a mere three people he has appointed.
The ethnicity balance debate stole the shine away from the ideal debate about merits and demerits, as well as capabilities – or incapability – of the appointees. It is a missed opportunity to question the persona of the three politicians, as we spent time debating their ethnic origins.
Yet in the end, it is not the ethnic origin of the president or his close circle of lieutenants that will lead us into the ideal society that we strive to be. Their capabilities and commitment will.
The incoming president was articulate on the motivation of his choices, but only a handful Namibians, it would seem, paid attention to his explanation.
The proliferation of identity politics and ethnic consciousness has dwarfed logic in many of our public discourses. Yes, states characterised by certain ethno-political configurations of power are more likely to experience violent conflict.
But the appointment of three people is not evidence that we have, suddenly, become an ethnically imbalanced country or government.
We are strong advocates of inclusivity and are highly optimistic that indeed the incoming government will, like its successive preceding governments, strike an equitable balance of ethnic representation, come March 21.
That balance, we dare say, must however be based on abilities of the appointees. No one should be parachuted into a position on ethnicity basis. They must possess the clout to help Geingob in taking Namibia to the next level.
At this stage of our life as a nation, compromise appointments should no longer be entertained. The priority should be to appease the nation in its totality and not individuals or ethnic groups.
Luckily, we are in a country where each ethnic group comprises capable individuals who are lawyers, engineers, journalists or medical doctors, among others, by profession and can therefore be deployed in various positions of governance.
This should make Geingob’s life easy in choosing those who will help him achieve what he and the ruling party Swapo have promised the nation.
Swapo took over a deeply divided society upon independence in 1990 and it was of paramount importance at the time to ensure that a strict ethnic balance is observed in filling positions. It was critical for nation building, which was one of government’s inevitable priorities at the time.
We therefore fully agree that inclusive governance will remain critical for a diverse country like ours. In fact, we would be treading dangerously is we stopped being sensitive towards the subject of inclusivity.
But ethnicity cannot reign supreme above logic and capabilities – and all the time. Let us therefore cut Geingob some slack and wait until he appoints his full Cabinet. Only then would we know whether his ‘no one should feel left out’ election catchphrase originated from his heart or if it was merely to lure the majority into electing him.