Kae on Friday
Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
Unfortunate! This may not aptly describe the saga at the official opposition, the Congress of Democrats (CoD), at times degenerating into mudslinging, blemishing its leaders and perhaps, forever, eclipsing their honour.
It is hard to see if there is a U-turn, or at least a detour from this road of destruction and chaos.
More disheartening, it is not only the CoD and its members that seem headed for the Biblical eternal fire. If what the party and its leaders have been making the electorate believe – that they are here to contribute towards the consolidation of democracy as well as its preservation – then what has been happening within this party does not auger well for this noble ideal and mission.
This unfortunate epoch in the life of our Statehood should, nevertheless, be an important lesson to many. A formation of whatever nature, political, religious or social, is not an automatic matter of indulging one’s whims, and money if moneyed. If such a formation is to stand the test of time, it must be based on strong principles. It must also be driven by men and women of character and class.
Not necessarily in an ideological sense, although ideally, but in the sense of vision and commitment to such a vision. If not in the sense of a class ideology ideally, at least in terms of ideals the hallmark thereof of which is a better life for its members and that of the whole.
Not a fashionable ideology only serving as a means towards finding a niche in the grandiose environment of politics and parliament but an ideology, the essence thereof, of which is the rock the lopsided foundation of our unequal society.
Any social formation that is not based on all of these elements, or most of them if not any strong one of these but on the spur and euphoria of the moment, is bound to crumble somewhere along the way as many have been proven many times in the past.
This is the harsh reality of the transient nature of loose and shaky formations, which are not based on truthful convictions but on convenient and flippant ideals by the strangest bedfellows.
Most of these bedfellows are little more than hitchhikers, opportunists and chance-takers. They are usually not men and women with deeply held and cherished outlooks and convictions. It is now for the leaders of CoD to show that they are much more than such characters and that they have strong convictions about the importance of the party to the Namibian democratic dispensation and beyond.
Beyond because people do not eat democracy but democracy is a means towards an end. That end depends on one’s ideology, vision and mission. This is why one expects the CoD leaders to rise above their parochial and self-centred petty rivalries, which are not based on any ideology for the good of the whole.
This whole cannot and should not, in this instance, be mistaken with the political ambitions of the various leaders on both equations to the power game now outplaying itself but Namibian democracy. Not democracy for its own sake but democracy as the requisite vehicle with a place for everyone on the way to a better life.
The ultimate objective is an environment in which everybody provides for her or himself with the basic necessities of life as a minimum starter. Thus the CoD leaders are better reminded that as an important tenet of the Namibian democratic dispensation, and the larger civil society, the whole is bigger than the CoD and its respective leaders.
The opposition, as it is now, is feeble and of little consequence, to say the least. Further dents on its being and capability cannot surely be in the interest of democracy and the future of this country. The stakes are higher than the CoD leaders may appreciate. If tomorrow we see the usurping of power and its dire consequences, the CoD cannot be unblemished for taking democracy and the country a step or two backward.
This is not the time for yet another (new) beginning. We have had many beginnings and the only way forward now is to build on these beginnings. Not only that, but if the CoD leaders are to uphold the status of the party as the official opposition, and thus the government-in-waiting, certainly they have to do better than what we have been seeing lately.
What we have been seeing so far really does not impress and makes one wonder what kind of government the CoD would bequeath the Namibian people. That is if that dream has not already been squashed altogether by the latest debacles.
If CoD and company think it may take years before they assume the reins of governance, those years could be tomorrow. I tremble to think what kind of governance would the CoD hand us given the ongoing theatrics. Turning any formation into a formidable and lasting one takes years of hard work, commitment and consolidation. But can we see any consolidation with what we are seeing within the CoD today? I’m negatively inclined.
The strong party that Swapo is today is not only a matter of historical dictates but also a factor of years of consolidation based on truthful conviction and commitment. I am sure the CoD or any other political formation in this country can take a leaf or two from Swapo.
That is if they have any ambitions of really becoming a governing party and not merely satisfied with hollow accolades of official opposition, honourables and rubbing shoulders with the powers that be at banquets.
Yes, before I sign off a glimpse at the recent Swapo Youth League extraordinary congress is instructive- in particular the spirit that prevailed there. This is the spirit any party aspiring towards power needs to rival the internal differences and strife notwithstanding.