It a celebratory weekend! Of reflections and looking back at 24 years of freedom. It was on March 21, 1990 when we lowered the colonial South African flag to replace it with our own.
Now, 24 years on, it is time for retrospection at an individual level. And let us be very honest and earnest in our self-examination as a nation. How much progress have we made, where are we lacking, and most importantly are we willing to pull up our socks and work even harder for the next 24 years?
Indeed we have made progress not just imagined progress but tangible and/or measurable progress. In this sense various institutions, national as well as international and reputable ones, testify to various quantifiable milestones we have achieved. One such instance is the World Bank that most recently affirmed Namibia’s economic progress and albeit in terms of the equal distribution of benefits from economic progress, our country remains suspect.
The international verdict on Namibia’s performance in the tourism industry is also resounding. In terms of media freedom we are ranked first on the continent and for some time since independence, on this score, we have been on top of the world log, and at the very top in Africa. In the world league we have even been beating some established western democracies for whom media freedom must and should by now come natural as a matter of established culture.
Where are we lacking? For one, our peace and stability that we have been enjoying since independence is at risk of collapsing. Our harmony and tranquillity is under threat from increasing social evils that have seen so many women murdered, indeed many lives lost so carelessly. These killings have become a societal concern. Societal as opposed to national because as yet one cannot with certainty speak of a Namibian nation, at least until our “My Pride, My Country” campaign bears the necessary fruit in terms of fomenting and fostering that illusive entity called a Namibian nation.
Indeed we have made progress since the day we hoisted that lovely flag of our Republic: blue with gold sun, white stripe, red, white stripe, and green. Political or symbolic independence, however you may see it, is as much pivotal as any other kind or type of independence anyone may perceive.
Especially economic independence for which as yet we have to work with the necessary conviction, vigour, willpower and determination in terms of achieving. That is for those of us who still believe that the symbolic flag and political independence that we attained on Independence Day are not intrinsic to itself but should be instrumental towards the attainment of many rights and freedoms, whether in a theoretical sense or in a practical material sense.
That is why on the eve of our 24th independence anniversary we, each one of us, will have to postulate that next time around when we are celebrating our independence anniversary, each one of us must be bolder about the progress that we think we have made individually, and that the cause for celebration should thus be justified not only in terms of political independence only.
But all the good and favourable accolades and indicators cannot be intrinsic in themselves but must eventually have a trickle-down effect. And this is where the problem lies. The excuse given most often by our political principals for the glaring inequalities in the country, is that the national cake is not big enough to take care of such inequalities, partly a factor of colonial legacy of the unequal distribution of the national resources of the country, but also now self-perpetuated because of the rampant greed, inefficiency, maladministration and the misappropriation and misapplication of such resources that seem now to be a norm and culture within an independent Namibia.
Happy 24 Anniversary Namibia!