It is an open secret that opinions on the construction of the new parliament are divided. It is not only the young people who are against it. I know many MPs who are against it too, and the same goes for some members of the executive.
Even many churchgoers and traditional authorities are against it. If there were a referendum on it today, only a handful would support it. In this national conversation about a new parliament some proponents of it have been heard saying the new parliament is good for the State and others say it is good for the government. Actually to begin with, these two terms are not synonymous.
The State has four elements, namely population (the people), territory, government and sovereignty. Government is an element of the State. Some commentators, like Willoughby, observed that “by the term government is designated the organisation of the State machinery” – that is to say the manner in which the State is organised for its purposes to be formulated and executed.
In other words, government is an agent of the State. That is why in a democracy, it (government) is considered as servant and the State as master. It consists of three branches (commonly known as organs of the State), namely the executive, legislature and judiciary.
The young people of Namibia, from cattle herders to students or graduates of various professions, are part and parcel of the four elements of the State mentioned above, just like all other inhabitants of the Republic of Namibia.
They (young people) voted for the current government in big numbers, as per Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN)’s statistics. This is to say they voted regardless of their poverty, unemployment, tribe or race. The victories of Swapo Party and President Hage Geingob were predominantly because of these young people. It follows, therefore, that opposing the wasteful spending on the unnecessary new parliament is a constitutional right guaranteed to every Namibian.
It takes leadership to handle public criticism, and leadership and holding positions are two different things. Those who are position-holders we often hear with regular cadence paddling rumour and gossip mills, seeking enemies behind every dissenting voice.
They fail daily to appreciate that these young people, or voices of dissent to some government projects, are not and cannot be an enemy. A leader on the other hand understands that these voices are of peace-loving citizens.
Many of them are landless. A leader will know that when citizens are demonstrating, especially against this unnecessary waste of taxpayers’ money for the luxury of MPs, it is an expression of democracy.
Let me also hasten to add that building a bigger parliament is not entirely wrong, but the timing of it at the present moment is misplaced. That is why the electorate is demonstrating.
It was heartening to observe two weeks ago that the government committee, chaired by Vice-President Nickey Iyambo, subtly indicated that there is an emerging realisation that the new parliament is not a priority.
Also, many thanks to Police Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga for placing the national interest above all other considerations. Thank you Namibian youth, patriots, as well as AR leaders, for being understanding as you were preparing for the historic 16 June 2016. The young people we saw marching peacefully to hand over a petition cared less about forming political parties, or about the tribe of government leaders.
They care about their future and about their constitutional rights. And by virtue of the demographic realities in Namibia, the majority of those young people against this new parliament are undeniably Swapo Party members. It is a pure political lie to suggest otherwise.
Once again, it is a bigger sin to invent lies and attempt to catapult such using State machinery to intimidate the electorate. Let us agree to disagree, but the fact is that we have better priorities currently on which we can spend N$2.2 billion, instead of the new parliament and we all know those priorities include education, drought, water infrastructure, land ownership, especially in local authorities and improving the standard of living of our people in rural areas and in informal settlements.
I appeal to you all, especially our leaders, to always remember the ideals of the Swapo Party, which are “Solidarity with the downtrodden; Freedom for the oppressed; and Social Justice for the disadvantaged.”
In fact it is Swapo that is supposed to be at the forefront of calling government to order, or directing its government, not civil society and young people, as we see now.