With regards to the Swartbooi situation, people need to understand that a political administration is in many ways similar to a football team where the president is like the coach and the ministers are like the players. Yes, the coach can make mistakes, but if a certain player does not want to find compromise with the directives and strategy of the coach they will find themselves sitting on the bench.
Abednego Katuushii Ekandjo
What/who is a Namibian?
When one looks at the socio-economic and geo-political configuration of Namibia, the perpetuation of the homelands/Bantustans system of government, albeit with a central government, the entrenchment and strengthening of traditional authorities and tribal chiefdoms, etc., can we safely say we have a Namibian nation?
By definition, a nation is a large group or collective of people with common characteristics attributed to them – including language, traditions, mores (customs), habitus (habits), and ethnicity. By comparison, a nation is more impersonal, abstract, and overtly political than an ethnic group. It is a cultural-political community that has become conscious of its autonomy, unity, particular interests, and value systems.
Others argue that a nation is not a racial or tribal, but a historically constituted community of people; a stable community of people, formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living together generation after generation, with a psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
Given the above narrative or attempt at defining a nation:
1. Can we claim to be a nation?
2. What features can we point to that would qualify us as a nation?
3. What will it take for us to successfully foster nationhood and become Namibians first, placing our loyalty to the nation, rather than our small configurations of homelands/Bantustans?
Sadly, even our national broadcaster, NBC, is still configured and operates on the modus operandi of the former Bantustan system.
Charles Mubita