The verse is directed, particularly, to those people who regard themselves as believers in God, the King of the Universe.

It goes like this: "O You who believe! Be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives.

Whether they are rich or poor, God is able to look after them.

Do not follow your own (evil) desires and deviate from the truth.

If you turn away, God is aware of what you do" (HQ, 4:135).

I have decided to pen this critical article as a way of expressing my deep agony and reflections about the future of my party and country as a concerned citizen and distant observer from abroad.

I am doing this purely for the love of the nation.

My major concern is about the apparent wrong direction that I see my country being pushed by some for a while now.

This is being suggested by an apparently intoxicated and toxic political discourse that has been increasing, as reported in various local media.

From the various media reports, assuming that they are fairly and objectively reported, I have become increasingly worried, especially by some frightening political statements and actions by my mighty Swapo.

As a 'comrade', though without a membership card, I consider myself a critical and lifelong Swapo supporter, especially of the historical Swapo.

I do not regard myself a blind supporter of everything my Party says or does, past, present or future.

Being critical to me also means that where my Party gets things right I am morally bound to compliment the party and would feel proud to be associated with it.

For example, I know and proudly acknowledge the fact that Swapo has significantly contributed to the liberation of Namibia and as a ruling party has kept the country relatively peaceful and stable since independence.

I am proud of such achievements for sure.

Yet, I have come to observe with sadness and at times, pure embarrassment, what has been happening to Swapo, and indirectly to Namibia.

I have come to feel that Swapo has lost some degree of its political maturity, morality and unifying leadership, which I have come to associate with it for a long time.

I have always held the Swapo party in high regard and still do to some extent.

But, I must say that as far as my observations go, as from 2003, I have noticed worrying signs of internal problems.

The problems appeared to have worsened, especially after the famous extra-ordinary Congress that finally produced our fiercely anti-corruption head of state, President Hifikepunye Pohamba.

While I have retained some degree of respect and admiration for some top leaders in Swapo in particular, I have, most sincerely, come to lose respect for some, especially those who have come to feel that "none should tell the Party anything", which I construe to mean that no-one should question anything the Party says or does.

I strongly feel that I have to take a stand on this one.

In my religious and political dictionaries, only God is infallible and thus unquestionable and as such I know and believe that I have the moral and political right to question any Party, including mine, on those things that I feel are morally wrong, socially dangerous and politically unethical.

If not, I reserve the right to withdraw my political and moral support.

I strongly believe that my Party, "the mighty Swapo", having liberated the country, should never put itself in a position where it will start tampering with liberty and basic freedoms.

This would be wrong and all justice-loving Namibians must oppose and reject it.

It is in this spirit that I want to advise my Party leadership that they should try hard to recover some of the lost moral and ethical leadership which has guided the party in the past.

Dr Zephania Kameeta would refer to such a social phenomenon as a "loss of soul".

Hence, I would support the good Dr in his call for a civilised national dialogue on how to restore our collective soul as patriotic Namibians, striving for one Namibia, one nation.

Of course, here I am focusing on Swapo as the ruling party, with all the responsibilities that go with wielding political power, yet the message also goes out to all those with positions of influence in society, including the rather media-pampered opposition parties and their leaders.

As a young Namibian academic I am not happy with the fact that there seems some kind of growing anti-intellectualism and political intolerance that have affected our political discourse and actions for some time now.

The problem with these twin evils of anti-intellectualism and intolerance of political diversity is that it will kill the spirit of critical and strategic thinking in the country and eventually produce an ignorant, submissive and sycophantic generation of Namibians, Namibians who will not question the powers that be, even if they are saying or doing immoral things, out of fear or cynicism.

This will surely make us kiss goodbye to all the visions and missions for our country.

This I do not want to see in the Land of the Brave.

It is the main reason I am speaking my mind, especially for the historical and future leaders of Namibia.

I most certainly do not want Namibia to go the wrong way! The bottom line: As a politically liberated people, I believe that we must all reject injustice, falsehood, social intolerance, cocksure ignorance and malice in ourselves and others! At the end of the day, my love for Namibia goes far beyond my political party and any personal ideology.

It should be like that for all of us.

It is in that spirit that I pray and trust that the God Almighty will guide my party, its leaders, its youth and the entire nation to recover (our) soul and then be able to continue to move in the direction of justice, truth, progress and equitable development for all! We owe it to ourselves to learn to live as children of our motherland, Namibia! I believe that peace-loving Namibians would agree with me.

Abdul Malik Shikongo Malaysia

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