President Hage Geingob, in his New Year’s message, declared 2022 as Namibia’s ‘Year of Reimaging’, encouraging the nation to form “a new and different mental picture” by thinking differently and “moving forward with renewed enthusiasm and vision”.
The theme of “reimaging” had been widely misinterpreted and criticised on social media, mainly because the word “reimaging” is ambiguous, quite uncommon and easily confused with “reimagining,” which has a different meaning. Others have claimed that they had no reason for “reimaging” amidst socio-economic difficulties such as unemployment and income inequality.
However, from a public relations perspective, “reimaging” has a very clear and significant meaning.
By now, the meaning of this theme has been contextualised and clarified, through various engagements. From these clarifications, one can deduce that Merriam-Webster’s definition of “reimaging” – forming “a new mental picture [or image] of (someone or something)” – is suitable in the context of this theme.
The theme of “reimaging” is, therefore, congruent with the main objective of public relations, which is to create and maintain a positive image, reputation and perception of an organisation to maintain trust and confidence in its strategies and programmes, in spite of denigration and other external factors.
On a national and broader scale, public relations, therefore, has an influence on the image of a country, both among its citizens and globally by developing strategies aimed at promoting national programmes and endeavours.
Sure enough, Namibia has been experiencing its fair share of challenges over the years, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic during the last two years. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown just how deficient our health systems and information technology infrastructure really were, not only in Namibia, but elsewhere too. The pandemic also had adverse effects on the global economy.
Though Covid-19 frontline workers have been diligent and dedicated in their response to the pandemic, patients have had to scrimmage for medical care as our health systems were not well-equipped to accommodate the increased number of patients. Education came to a standstill, particularly in rural areas, where learners are computer-illiterate and where there is limited access to support infrastructure such telecommunications and electricity. Travel restrictions between countries and the closure of points of entry in order to contain the virus had constrained regional and international trade, thereby disrupting our economy.
In spite of these and other persistent challenges, such as a high unemployment rate and income inequality, Namibia has remained resilient, as the President mentions, giving us reason for reimaging. Of note is the green hydrogen venture, which has attracted international recognition and is expected to transform our energy sector, promote a low-carbon future, stimulate investment and create employment opportunities.
Moreover, Namibia has been vigorously promoting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and has drafted a national strategy to implement the AfCFTA agreement, which would allow us access to a single market of African countries, and grow small and medium enterprises on the continent.
In the midst of economic challenges, these endeavours and others, coupled with other factors such as our political stability, democratic governance, rule of law and abundant natural resources, do indeed give us reason for reimaging.
These endeavours and factors should, however, not make us complacent. Unlike traditional public relations, modern public relations are cognisant that organisational/national strategies and endeavours should correlate with public opinion. Reimaging, therefore, requires us to, among others, enhance service delivery both in the public and private sectors, and favourably respond to the social needs of communities.
The theme of “reimaging” should thus resonate throughout the year as our motivation and driving force to overcome our collective national struggles.
* Tauno Iileka is a public relations practitioner at the Omaheke Regional Council. He writes in his personal capacity.