Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
SUNDAY, February 9 is Constitution Day, when the country celebrates the adoption of the Namibian Constitution by its founders.
On this day our constitution becomes 24 years old. The question posed often around this time is whether the constitution is a living document or not. That is whether or not the rights and freedoms enshrined in this document are guaranteed and if they are being observed as well as enjoyed by those who are supposed and meant to enjoy them, as well as whether those who are supposed to protect such rights and freedoms are indeed protecting them. Foremost among those entrusted with the protection of the Namibian Constitution is His Excellency the President of the Republic of Namibia, as indeed are all Members of Parliament, Cabinet ministers, the judiciary and the Fourth Estate – the media and last, but not least the citizens themselves.
The 1996 revised edition of the Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary describes living as, among others ‘having life’ or ‘active’. Thus when we refer to the constitution as a ‘living document’ we mean that it has life and whether we exercise the rights and freedoms enshrined in this document, and of course the attendant duties and responsibilities. Foremost of these rights and freedom are those enshrined in Chapter 13, which are fundamental human rights. They range from the right to life, right to education and right to participation in political activity to freedom of speech and expression, including the freedom of the press and freedom of association. The answer to the question whether such rights and freedoms are alive is both yes and no. Yes, in the sense that such rights and freedoms are enshrined in black and white and theoretically are guaranteed to all of us as citizens of the Land of the Brave. Whether we do not live by them consciously or subconsciously does not mean they do not exist. On paper they do. This brings us to the flip side of the equation. It is not only enough that our rights and freedoms exist on paper, such existence can only be practical and said to be living if those who are supposed to enjoy these rights and freedoms are not only aware of their existence on paper, but relate to them practically and materially in their daily lives. It is on this score that one cannot say in the affirmative that those who are supposed to enjoy these rights and freedoms are aware of them and make them part of their every daily lives in business, politics, the economy, as well as socially and culturally. The practical yardstick of the liveliness of the constitution is how it materially facilitates our livelihoods, especially those of the mass of our impoverished people or exploited and oppressed people and classes if you like. Hence, my emphasis on economic rights and the quest for economic justice. One of the rights that our citizenry must enjoy is the right to a decent shelter. However, looking around in our villages and towns we see hundreds if not thousands of fellow citizens living in squalid conditions in shacks that are mushrooming everywhere in our country. As long as a section of our population, and by no means an insignificant one, continues to live in such shacks with little hope of anything better, we cannot say that our constitution is a living document, safe that they have at least somewhere to live. But this is also not guaranteed with the dagger of eviction hanging over their heads every day of their lives and municipal bulldozers with their heartless, merciless, insensitive and blind obedience and benign operators at standby 24 hours to pounce on the makeshift structures of the homeless, roofless and shelter-less fellow citizens.
Therefore, the onus lies with civil society. So far there is little evidence of the extent to which civil society is collectively conscious of its civil, political and human rights and its readiness to dare to live by them.
Neither is there much evidence of the extent to which our statesmen and women would go to carry out their mandate of upholding the constitution as per their oaths and to inculcate a constitutional culture in nation. Overall our constitution remains only a piece of paper and has yet to encounter a real test in terms of the various rights and freedoms that it guarantees. Until we reach that bridge, and the big question remains when, it may be premature to properly appreciate its provisions. As they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. There appears not to have been much eating of the pudding, as far as our constitution is concerned let alone proof. But only the citizens themselves can make the constitution a living document by actively clamouring for its provisions and realising them in practice every second, minute, hour and day of their lives. We cannot and should not only pause to deservedly celebrate and observe the day, but also reflect and stand up for those rights and freedoms that many of our citizens still do not seem to enjoy.
Let us celebrate this important and historical day when our founding mothers and fathers adopted this salient document after days and nights of painstaking, soul searching, heart wrenching and mentally draining labour to endorse and reaffirm our right to freedom and independence for ever.