Sinvula Mudabeti
A few days ago, the Head of State, President Nangolo Mbumba said Namibians should be allowed to buy mahangu from Angola and import it on account of the looming drought.
In addition, on 14 August 2023, a public notice from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform on the ‘Import of Mahangu Grains and Beans from Angola through Oshikango Border Post’, directed that the public be allowed to import mahangu grains and beans from Angola, and thus be exempted from laws that ordinarily regulate the importation of such grains under usual circumstances due to the prevailing drought in the country.
Whereas both the president’s call and the notice by the ministry of agriculture appears to be aimed at assisting Namibians with accessing much-needed supplies of food from Angola for consumption purposes, it is clear that our country is selectively applying laws to benefit a section of Namibia, and excluding all other areas of Namibia who may be facing similar challenges, or even worse.
According to recent predictions on the effects of the looming drought, areas such as the Zambezi region are more prone to suffer the worst effects of drought due to low rainfall that they received compared to other parts of Namibia, and yet efforts to assist people of the Zambezi in mitigating the effects of drought is directed to areas that are less likely to suffer the worst effects of drought.
The question that begs an answer from the Head of State is what criteria has he used to allow one part of Namibia to be exempted from the laws of the country in importing mahangu, and not do so at a national level?
Considering that the staple food for people from the Zambezi is maize, which is not as drought- resistant as mahangu, why then has the ministry of agriculture not allowed the importation of maize meal and sweet potato from Zambia into Namibia?
Is the life of a resident of the Zambezi region less than that of another in other parts of the same country? Are Namibians from areas outside the northern part second class citizens?
Government should be consistent in its dealings when it comes to drought or any matter that affects all Namibians, irrespective of their ethnicity.
This is because we are a nation built on equality, as enshrined in our Constitution, which the president vowed to honour.
Issues of selective morality have become the norm of the government, and this cannot be left unchallenged as people from the Zambezi region and other regions have faced systematic discrimination when they are denied access to food commodities from countries such as Zambia and Botswana.
Just recently, at Mururani, a veterinary checkpoint between Grootfontein and Rundu, people from the Zambezi region who were found transporting sour milk from the Zambezi region were exposed to acts of discrimination as their milk was confiscated and destroyed, only to discover that at Oshivelo, sour milk has been passing without being confiscated. It is acts like these of implementing the law selectively that breed animosity and fuel tension in people’s minds.
At Kongola, a ruthless police checkpoint, officers have been confiscating mangoes, groundnuts, sweet potatoes and many products that residents from the Zambezi have been carrying to mainland Namibia, even without any directive from government, or using directives that are implemented selectively without scientific justification.
If this type of discrimination continues, we will have no choice but to seek legal remedies in the high court to challenge some of these draconian acts perpetuated by government against the people of the Zambezi region.
The mistreatment of people from the Zambezi is a clear case of systematic and systemic inequalities that are deliberate, intentional and aimed at creating structural poverty reminiscent of apartheid. It is common knowledge that people experiencing multiple inequalities are prevented from enjoying equal status, dignity, and freedoms, and from interacting as equals in society.
Therefore, the people of the Zambezi region should equally be allowed to buy maize meal from Botswana and Zambia without being molested by law-enforcement agencies.
The President should also make a countrywide assessment of what needs to be done in the entire country to mitigate the effects of drought on all Namibians, irrespective of which part of the country they reside in. For crying out loud, he is a president of all Namibians!
Inequalities should never be tolerated in our country because they are retrogressive and inhumane.
We cannot allow the marginalisation and exclusion of certain groups in the same country. Multiple deprivation and inequalities should never be accepted as they are biased and unfair, and restrict the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of Namibians, to which many shed their blood for.
Sinvula Mudabeti is a resident of the Zambezi region.