Does SWAPO really deserve our applause?

FRITZ H DAUSAB, LPM COMMISSIONERS FOR POLITICS, DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMICS WRITES WITH AUGUST BIKEUR:

In liberation struggles, leaders who promise aggression, threats, populism and simplistic solutions that will overnight solve problems appeal more to defeated societies under the misguided perception that such leaders will defend them against oppressors. However, militant leaders are often poor leaders, especially inadequate in rebuilding defeated societies (Prof. William Gumede, The Namibian, 2019).

When we investigate such statements from a renowned South African scholar, humanitarian and someone who I had the privileged to meet in Western Cape during my post-graduate years at University of Stellenbosch, we will need to agree that the above statement in absolute terms is factual to all countries who had liberation struggles.

After African countries achieved independence, countries such as Namibia had to follow the "Washington consensus" and became capitalist countries, to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to grow its economy. Yet during our colonial era, first under Germany from the 1880's to the 1920's and under South African rule of apartheid until 1989, Namibians never were empowered to management our economy or government.

Since 1990, after the euphoria of becoming independent from colonialization and apartheid Namibia could not shake off the triple threats of racism, poverty and development.

This article would like to use the words of Prof. Gumede and the above problems faced by Namibia to make an argument about SWAPO lacking the leadership skills and will-power to develop Namibia.



RACISM

The leadership style of Sam Nujoma was of the aggressive and populism type in the 1990's, talking about revolutionaries and spies around every corner.

Under Nujoma, the original SWAPO that is and was OPO, were used to occupy 90% of all ministerial and high-ranking positions in government and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Army bases were built all over the country to influence elections. Add to this is that 80% of all NDF and police officers and even commanding officers in all corners are 90% OPO.

The current infighting within SWAPO is exemplified by this discourse, in that Hage Geingob does not command from the heights of the OPO podium. Team Harambee is chaired by him and through favours - such as positions, tenders and even Chinese money - Geingob tries his best and exalts at everything happening in Owamboland, but never ever attended the "Damara-fees" in any of his capacities - as private person, former prime minister and now president.



POVERTY

It is sad to see the mushrooming of shanty towns around Namibia, in the face of all SWAPO propaganda that Namibian lives are better under SWAPO government than Apartheid government.

I can truly say that SWAPO lies, Calle Schlettwein when he says the Fitch rating does not affect Namibia nor economists at BoN or statisticians tell the truth when laying out their statistics and graphs about how SWAPO has uplifted the living standards of Namibians. In the northern towns such as Oshakati and Ondangwa shebeens lines the streets (many owned by politicians), all over shebeens have infiltrated neighbourhoods and we are sitting with high rates of gender based violence, school dropouts and high rates of teenage pregnancies, alcohol abuse, unemployment and a stagnant economy. Harambee is already a failed project.

The utterances by our own //Kharas governor Lucia Basson that the drought is not that devestating in the South has rocked the people of the South. Through government's plight, many foreign government such as the US government had donated more than U$8.7 million to drought in Namibia (NBC, 2019).

The thousands of dead livestock and her incapability to bring development to the South (just like the Hardap region under Esme Isaacks) are signs of incapability, no management skills, not one original idea to develop their regions, hampered by a braindead SWAPO party, that only trades dictatorship to all its cadres.

Out of utter callousness, SWAPO had a rally in the shanty town of Hakahana/Ombili, an informal settlement in Windhoek with the most expensive motorcycles, luxury cars and tax paid gleaming Mercedes-Benzes, which most Namibians will never be able to buy or drive. Yet clueless SWAPO secretary of information Hilma Nicanor justified the opulence as their right as SWAPO party to rally the poor masses to vote for SWAPO . . . again (Sakeus Ikela, The Namibian, 2019).



DEVELOPMENT

In the 1990's the just independent government thumb-sucked a date (2030) put a vision in front of the date and called it the plan of SWAPO to transform Namibia into an industrial nation.

To accommodate this plan National Development Plans were drawn up to build Namibia in five year increments. NDP1-5 came and went, not even one factory was built. No computer ever was assembled in Namibia as per NDP1.

Fast forward to 2019 and NDP5 is collecting dust in the bin. Tom Alweendo has gone to the Ministry of Mines and SWAPO's empty promises of prosperity for all Namibians is still a failure in which ever way Namibians looks at the government.

Anybody, including SWAPO members voting for SWAPO in the upcoming elections must be a special kind of hypocrite. Especially in the face of daily corruption of billions, misuse of GIPF funds without any accountability, the deplorable state of public hospitals with no medicines, an education system which is totally idiotic and which leaves thousands of school-leavers and students on the streets with no job opportunities.