Namibian liberators promulgate that the main aim of the liberation struggle was to free Namibians from the colonial yoke. Meaning among other things Namibians are supposed to express themselves freely within the legal framework. In addition, they are free to join any political party of their choice as per Article 17 of the Constitution. Furthermore, the constitutional provisions prohibit any form of degradation of the Namibian people let alone treating the citizens unequally before the law.
After 30 years of nationhood, some of our liberators seem to be living in the wilderness where survival of the fittest is the norm. The behaviour and utterances of some of our liberators do not suggest that they are indeed trying their best to unyoke Namibians from the colonial rule and hence do not augur well for a democratic nation.
Law-abiding citizens are threatened to have their throats slit for exercising their democratic rights by joining other political parties. The powers that be threaten war on other sections of the population for registering in large numbers to vote in the upcoming elections. It is quite strange that before the elections are held one already knows the outcome thereof. Surely, Namibians should be concerned and scared about their safety and security, indeed their future because of this type of paranoia. It is therefore no wonder that Namibia has asylum seekers in foreign countries despite the fact that we can easily accommodate one another within the umbrella of the national reconciliation policy.
Namibia has a small population and is still a young nation, and surely there is no need for pushing one another for political influence and space. The powers that be should address the current and real pressing economic and unemployment issues.
Had the government and other parties done their assignment, there would be no need to panic, as the majority of the people would still vote for them. However, if people are dissatisfied with the current political dispensation, no one has the right to stop them from voting for change.
Namibia has witnessed political changes in many parts of the world from which our liberators should learn. People cannot be fooled all the time, but there comes a time when enough is enough.
In Africa, many liberating movements at some point have become too corrupt and relaxed in delivering the much-needed services, in the process decampaigned themselves, and lost power forever. The liberators further lost vision and the main purpose of the liberation struggle and started enriching themselves at the expense of the masses. Similarly, our liberators have followed the parallel route by failing to learn from the errors of their counterparts in neighbouring countries.
In Namibia, the ruling party seems to be comfortable with the majority North vote. Nevertheless, one cannot foretell how long will the populous support from the North hold as evidenced by the mushrooming of political parties from that quarter.
It is surprising if the liberators think that Namibians will be voting for them election in and election out when the majority of young people are without jobs and the economy is in disarray. More still, the citizens need an efficient delivery system and security in parts of the country. The continuous slaughtering of innocent Namibians by the Botswana Defence Force is a case in point. It is doubtful if the government would remain mute if the Namibians being killed were from other parts of the country.
How can the governor of Zambezi region and the councillor for Kabbe South expect the people in that constituency to vote for the party which has failed to protect them from BDF’s aggression and naked terrorism? Botswana has been killing innocent Namibians even before independence on the false pretext that the victims have been poaching on their territory.
The Namibian liberators should come out of the wilderness and take a radical stand to either liberate Namibians from the barbaric claws of Botswana by cutting the diplomatic ties or avenge the killings. This will perhaps be the language Botswana will understand instead of giving lip service to the long-standing altercation. It is unfortunate that after thirty years of independence many Namibians are still nostalgic about the oppressive apartheid days.
This should not be the case if things had been better than what many Namibians are going through. Hollow political utterances without tangible actions will not be putting the ruling party into power all the time. Our liberators should also acknowledge that the independence euphoria died many years ago, and Namibians want to reap the fruits of their sweat.