Toini Sam
Namibia is still considered a sub-Saharan Africa country with a huge gap between the “haves” and the “have nots”.
Additionally, Namibia is also classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank, with per capita income used as a key indicator for benchmarking technical assistance, which does not reflect the actual reality and vulnerability of middle-income countries (MICs), compared to Angola, which is rated as a lower middle-income country.
Swapo is aware of these structural realities in the economy that date back to the pre-independence era. Now, the country is emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, which tremendously slowed down industrial production and economic activity between December 2019 and March 2022.
While significant strides such as the provision of clean water, free education and housing have been made over the years to improve livelihoods, the ruling party is aware that more still needs to be done.
To serve the electorate better, every democratic and focused ruling party has an electoral mandate to constantly conduct environmental scanning of the economy with a view to designing effective interventionist strategies that can be recommended to central government.
This has become even more imperative, considering Swapo’s performance in the last local government and national elections, a performance which amplified a call to action. As a socially conscious organisation driven by the concerns and voices of the majority, Swapo has been reflecting and adjusting its sails with the strategic arm of the party – the Swapo think tank – devising useful strategies aimed at directing party business and influencing government’s policy direction.
National policy conferences serve as platforms for the party to engage in in-depth discussions, and to analyse the national development policies Namibia has pursued over the last 32 years of independence. Out of these discussions, based on papers presented, would emerge important recommendations that will be forwarded to government.
From a strategic perspective, the recently-concluded Swapo’s third national policy conference was hailed as an important milestone in the ruling party’s efforts to contribute to the overall policy direction taken by central government.
At the first-ever national policy conference in 2012, former President Hifikepunye Pohamba said, “this is not the kind of society for which thousands of our heroes and heroines sacrificed their lives during the national liberation struggle.”
It is from this standpoint and understanding that the think tank knows that politics is not just about slogans, leadership positions and elections, but about improving the living standards of the majority electorate. Hence, the over 600 delegates who attended this year’s policy conference approached it with a sense of urgency in addressing the socio-economic challenges facing the country.
The policy conference was also an opportunity for the ruling party’s leadership to demonstrate unity within the party, amid previous mounting fears and rumours that the ruling party was headed for a decisive split.
Those whom the grapevine had perceived to be in different factions demonstrated their solidarity and full support by turning up for the policy conference. Their attendance restored confidence in the party’s support base, the economy, and the generality of domestic politics. President Hage Geingob strongly emphasised that there is no more Team Harambee or Team Swapo, but a united and inclusive party, working for all Namibians.
Culminating in the holding of the policy conference were six months of thorough preparations, over which participants were placed in clusters to identify and research on different topics and come up with solid papers. To ensure the quality of all content compiled, preliminary submissions were made, with adjustments factored in before the conference presentations.
Among the strategic economic topics and papers that were identified, explored and presented at the conference were papers on economic diplomacy and its contribution to the Namibian Gross Domestic Product (GDP); post-Covid-19 economic revival; transport infrastructure development; youth employment; payment systems in banking; agricultural land use towards food security; affordable housing; defence and security; digital infrastructure development; techno poles and innovation centres.
The policy documents which were deliberated on were developed by members of the think tank under the chairmanship of Andrew Niikondo. The conference also reviewed and discussed the report on the implementation of previous resolutions at different platforms.
The quantum of papers that were presented and the quality of deliberations and presentations were a demonstration of a ruling party that is alive to and invested in the challenges being experienced by the Namibian population.
Addressing delegates at the conference, the president emphasised on the need for Swapo to do more to foster nationhood and find solutions for housing, youth empowerment, employment-creation, and to offer competitive education. The president also urged for finding solutions to poverty eradication by thinking about forms of empowerment, such as the discovery of green hydrogen ammonia.
At the party level, the president spoke about the need to improve monitoring and evaluation capabilities, and asked to what extent the ruling party’s manifesto was implemented, as well as the challenges and opportunities that existed.
In terms of national security, President Geingob spoke about dealing with new internal and transnational threats – youth unemployment, economic crises and pandemics, economic crimes, cyber security, natural disasters and violent crime. The president added that robust processes, systems and institutions would bolster effective governance.
Multiple recommendations that were made at the conference will be further deliberated on at the party’s congress later in the year. Thereafter, they will be forwarded to government to influence policy direction with a view to assisting in the country’s economic recovery trajectory.
It is expected that once adopted and implemented by government, the policy recommendations will lead to improved economic performance and overall governance of the Namibian
State.
*Toini Ndeshihafela Bijory Sam is a member of the Swapo party think tank and authored a book, ‘The Journey of a Conqueror’. She writes in her own capacity.