Namibia clocked 33 years of independence on 21 March 2023. As it is always sung, Namibian independence was not ushered on a platter, but it came by shedding the blood of many Namibians.
This is testified in the Namibian national anthem in the words: “Glory to their bravery, whose blood waters, our freedom”. Whoever is accredited to have penned the national anthem be it late Hidipo Hamutenya or Axali Doeseb, the words are clear and piercing through the soul.
Many Namibians flocked to different places on Independence Day to remember those who fell during the bitter and protracted war of the liberation struggle.
The missing ones in those places of celebration and commemoration are the heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives for the independence of the country.
In some quarters, some of the fallen heroes and heroines could perhaps be casually mentioned by name during the ceremonies. Namibians have just forgotten the role played by these people, who sacrificed so much by even laying their precious lives for the liberation of the country.
The remains and graves of the gallant heroes and heroines are scattered throughout the world, while the dry bones of many who perished for their country are still being exposed to the scorching sun at the former frontlines.
Some of the fallen heroes and heroines could not be given decent burials even after 33 years of independence. There are some fallen heroes and heroines who cannot be accounted for, even today, as the ruling elite has lost the political will to revisit and take stock of the liberation struggle.
It is along this vein that one is tempted to borrow from the wisdom of Tjingaete (2017) in his book, The Weeping Graves of Our Ancestors, to epitomise the current state of the affairs of the fallen heroes and heroines.
The graves and resting places of the fallen gallant combatants inside the country, Cassinga, Lubango, Maheba, Mangango, Mayukwayukwa, Shatotwa and all over the world, should be weeping over the betrayal of the liberation struggle and what it stood for.
One of the main purposes of the liberation struggle was to root out the corrupt, racist, repressive regime of South Africa and replace it with a system, which called for equality among all Namibians. Thirty-three years down the independence line, many Namibians seem not to have reaped the fruits of their sacrifices and those of their relatives whom the war did not allow to come back home. The state of unemployment and corruption has reached unacceptable levels, leading to hopelessness and where one needs to be connected to get a job – even a promotion despite qualifying for the position.
Reserving positions for relatives and friends is the order of the day both in the civil service and in parastatals. The offsprings of the fallen heroes and heroines in many cases fail to appear anywhere in the employment agencies.
This is not what the heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle shed their blood for. Now that the political ruling elite is settled and ‘eating from the national cake’, the role played by the heroes and heroes are forever forgotten.
They cannot recall the names of Induna Masida, who was roasted on a fire, Maxwell Kulibabika, the Wenela driver who gave a lift to Tobias Hainyeko from Singalamwe to Katima Mulilo, where the latter was finally shot on a pontoon, which was heading to Sesheke, on the Zambian side, on his return trip to Lusaka.
Many heroes and heroines in all parts of the country are forgotten because one cannot find an inventory, where their names can be accessed.
On the other hand, the veteran affairs ministry has so far failed to assist many offsprings of those who fell in the battle for the liberation of Namibia. Go to Masida village and see how Induna Masida’s family and other family members whose parents were killed for their involvement in the struggle wallow in poverty.
The trend is all over the country – and the Masida example is just the tip of the iceberg of the state of affairs of the beneficiaries of the struggle fruits. Yes, the ministry of veteran affairs has been dishing out some monies and projects to some connected veterans, but in some cases, the wrong ones have been benefitting.
The wrong ones, in the sense that, they collaborated with the system, which was fighting against the granting of independence to Namibia. There have been members in some regions, who have been accorded veteran status, while at the same time declining the applications for membership of some who qualified. Understandably, the fund might be exhausted, but justice should be done that the spouses and children of the heroes and heroines should benefit from the veteran’s largesse.
The current state of affairs may tempt others to question whether it was worth it dying for the country as in Wilfred Owen’s ironic poem Dulce et Decorum est which in Latin means, it is sweet and fitting followed by pro patria mori, which means, to die for one’s country.
The poem narrates the horror of war and Owen ironically questions the worthiness of dying for one’s country. Namibians shed their blood for the liberation of the country, and it is the responsibility of the government to adequately honour the heroes and heroines for their role in liberating the country!