Dr Esther Utjiua Muinjangue (EM) joined the health ministry in March 2020, a week after Namibia had detected its first Covid-19 case. It has been a trying time for Muinjangue, who is also the leader of National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), but challenges she cannot handle.
She recently sat down with New Era’s Lahja Nashuuta (LN) for a comprehensive analysis of her time thus far as deputy minister and Nudo president, while also sharing her opinion on current matters such as abortion, sex workers, LGTBQ+ community and BIG.
LN: You have accused your party of being too patriarchal and making it difficult for you to execute your ideas. Give examples of where you felt you were undermined by some people within your organisation, simply because you are a woman.
EM: Not my party members per se, but external individuals went out of their way to try to influence other members of Nudo.
If we go back over the past five years, it all started when I was appointed deputy minister. People who have been rejecting the appointment, were not my party leadership but members of the ruling party, Swapo.
I keep on asking myself why because I am also not the first person from the opposition to be appointed. There were others before me, and I did not hear people complaining. I did not hear people making comparisons between them and myself, and that makes you believe that yes, people are doing this simply because you are a woman.
LN: Talk to us about your ministerial duties and how you overcame challenges.
EM: Let me start with the achievements. I joined the Ministry of Health and Social Services in March 2020, a week after Namibia had detected its first Covid-19 case and at a time our president declared Covid-19 as a state of emergency.
And together with my minister [Kaumbi Shangula], we supported our team and found ways to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic.
I recall during those first months when Erongo, and especially Walvis Bay, was the hotspot and epicentre of Covid-19 campaign, Cabinet took a decision that five deputy ministers should go to Walvis Bay, be on the ground and provide the necessary leadership that was needed that time.
I was part of the assigned persons. We went and were there mitigating, talking to stakeholders, engaging communities, educating them also on Covid-19 preventive measures and so on. I looked at myself and I said, yes, I am in this capacity as a deputy minister, but then also the president of Nudo and for me the country was facing a crisis, and two political parties in this country were working very hard to mitigate this crisis and to handling this crisis and that’s the ruling party and my party Nudo and for me, that was something to be proud of.
I am happy that I am not the only one that could see that, because when we came back, I recall three to four people who visited my office, said the same thing that while I was in the field they did not only see a deputy minister of health but also a leader from an opposition party, and that is an achievement.
Being the deputy minister has given me the opportunity also to see how governance is run and managed. Should Nudo take over one day, I would know what to do.
One of the challenges was that people thought I got this position to silence me, and people will never see me but I think this position has made me more visible. But for me, as a leader of a political party, when it is campaigning time, we run up and down throughout this country in all the regions campaigning.
What are we campaigning for? Are we not campaigning for coming into power? Are we not campaigning for running this country? Now, when you are given the position as a deputy minister, why should I not take it? I will remain thankful for my late president for appointing me to this position where we needed to be.
And may his soul really continue to rest in power, because he gave me an opportunity that I never thought we would have in my time.
I noticed that people have been making mistakes by referring to the government as the Swapo government. This is a Namibian government led by a political party called Swapo.
It’s our government; your government, my government. And why should I prevent myself from serving the government? And as a political party, my campaign message has also been going there and providing alternatives, contributing to nation building, contributing to serving the Namibian people. And that is exactly what I have been doing, and I’m proud that I could do that.
LN: There were talks following your appointment as deputy minister of health that you neglected the party work. Talk to us about what really transpired.
EM: One should not say you neglected but should say we expected you to do ABCD, that you did not do. My leadership did not have a problem with my appointment. In fact, they were standing firm and were the ones supporting, protecting me. We even coined a saying in our vernacular that “Tuzemisa Omuriro” which means we are extinguishing the fires.
So, I became the talk of the town, and the truth is that people don’t talk about someone that they don’t notice; and they noticed because I had been doing something.
When I took over as deputy minister, and also serving those constituencies that are predominantly Nudo constituencies, I did support visits to the regions. I went to Otjozondjupa region and specifically Kopress because we have a clinic there.
One complaint was that the patients of Kopress which is part of Okakarara constituency were being referred to Okakarara instead of Grootfontein and had to travel 100 of kilometres on the bad roads.
When I took over, I facilitated by engaging the minister for Kopress patients in critical condition to be taken to Grootfontein which is 60km away on a tarred road. This happened because I was in this position of deputy minister of health and social services.
One day someone asked me: “So you are part of the corrupt government?” I said, okay, well, I don’t think the government is corrupt, maybe individuals in the system, but not the system. “So, when they are failing, you are also failing, so you are part of that failure.” I said, I will not run away when we fail. I’m part of the system and I will fail with the system but when we succeed, I can also claim the success.
If you go to Okakarara hospital today they have six doctors instead of maybe 1 or 2 they used to have.
Their kitchen is the best with modern equipment as well as the laundry room and I will claim that because I am part of the management that makes those decisions.
When I joined the ministry, the government was busy constructing the health centre at Okondjatu and I was told they started building it years back, but it was very far from completion and every day I was knocking at the door of the minister. So, people don’t realise these things at an individual level and when people want to criticise, they will always look for the negative and never see the positive things. And I’m sure that in every situation there are pros and cons.
LN: You initiated the parliamentary debate on abortion in 2020. How do you feel about how that debate has turned out in Parliament and in public?
EM: One should also consider the diverse communities that we have in Namibia and that some of the topics that will be brought up, should be seen as part of transformation. And transformation is not always easily welcomed by everyone because we have that fear for change because we don’t know what is coming.
I am happy that people also took it out of context because my motion was very clear. My motion looked at the pros and cons of legalising it. What are the pros and cons if we don’t legalise it? How would we sensitise and conceptualise the minds of people if we don’t talk about it? So, it sometimes is just necessary to open a debate, hear voices, hear opinions of what people think about that and that. And I’m sure that I created that platform because after that, you know, you could see people standing up to those who were for it, almost against it and everyone could speak their minds. And for me that was good. It was good the parliamentary committees went into the communities in the regions to hear the opinions of the people. And it’s good because when you hear the opinions of the people, it also informs whatever decision can be taken.
LN: Another controversial issue that divides opinion is sex work. From a health perspective, what would be the best decision for Namibia regarding the status of sex work?
EM: My opinion is also informed by my professional values as a social worker. Now, social work is a value-based profession. It has two basic values: how people ought to be treated no matter the gender, sex, the place, the whatever but we believe that every individual ought to be treated with respect because they have inherent dignity.
The other one is the value of social justice. And those values are always also influencing my thinking, my interaction and engagement with whoever. Now for me not a social worker, I’m being trained to be judgmental. It’s not for me to judge.
It’s a personal decision. I’m a social worker. If someone comes to me and they need counselling, they need services from my side, I will provide that service without saying that but I cannot because you are like this or you are what. This is a sensitive issue. But it’s a reality also, whether we like it or not, we have our brothers and sisters who have made the choice to live the way they want to live.
Now the question on commercial sex workers. There are different reasons why people opt for that, economic survival, for example. And as we know, this is the oldest profession. Now, again, when you look at it, look at the pros and cons and then once I started to look at this, especially during that time when HIV was a epidemic or something, I said, but if we have these people, we register them and they go for medical checkup and or whatever , will we be in a better position to control this, rather than calling them names, treating them inhumanely and all these things.
So it is a sensitive topic. And that it is again also a paradigm shift that we need, which is also a process.
You know, it’s okay for people to have different opinions, to have divergent ways of looking at things. At the end of the day, those divergent ways of looking at things should help us to make the right decisions.
LN:What is your position as a party on LGBTQ+ rights and same sex marriages?
EM: Yeah, that one is easier because as a party we have not really expressed ourselves on that. So, I don’t think I will have any response to that question at the moment.
LN: Women MPs have been accused of not standing up for women’s issues. What is your reaction to this allegation?
EM: There are no issues that do not affect women, whether it is poverty where they are substance abuse, every topic, every issue is affecting women.
So, and of course, in Parliament, we are all coming from different political parties. We are also guided by what is the manifesto of the party, what are the policies of the party. And that can make it maybe also not so easy for female politicians to discuss any topic that is coming to Parliament. But I think all topics that come to Parliament affect women, one or the other way, because women are the home makers. They are the backbone of societies.
LN: As a social worker, what has been your advice to the government on a basic income grant?
EM: As a social worker I believe in creating opportunities that will make people self-reliant and independent. So, I’m always saying we need to find ways as to the projects that are there, but women or anyone else who is benefiting from the basic income grant can run a project that will help him or her to be sustainable, rather than waiting for the government to provide.
So, we need to find ways and programmes to make people more sustainable, more self-reliant and independent.
LN: What’s next for Dr Muinjangue?
EM: You know, I’m a person who believes in the law of attraction. Thinking positive attracts all the positivity to your side. Now, there are certain things that I sometimes don’t plan in my life. I do planning of course, for small things and so on. What is next for me is I know that the elections will come, so for whoever will take over, I will submit to them.
For now, whatever plans are there, I leave those plans in the hands of the universe. Let the universe take its course and decide for me.
– lnashuuta@gmail.com