Political Perspective
AND the good news is .... the probability of an additional charismatic, learned and conscientious Member of Parliament is on the cards! No prizes for guessing who's next on the list for that august chamber! It's the man that President Sam Nujoma permits to shout the odds unchecked against all and sundry; none other than the Secretary General of the Swapo Youth League, Paulus Kapia.
FOR those of you already scrabbling about in your family tree to
see if you can find some remote connection to a citizenship other
than that of Namibia and to flee as fast as you can, rest assured,
he'll probably quickly go to ground just like most of the unionists
and others who ascend the Party ladder tend to do when elevated in
status.
For those of you somewhat confused about the 'list' thing, just
for clarity's sake, remember that there are two lists.
The one in question is the official Swapo Party 'list' of
candidates in order of preference, and this is the one on which
Kapia's name is next for a seat in the National Assembly.
Then there's the other one, hinted at but never officially
unveiled, which is none other than the SPYL man's own list (or 'hit
list' if you prefer).
It includes those he perceives as non-patriotic Swapo-supporting
cadres of alleged questionable gender orientation or with links to
foreign imperialists, among others, and who should therefore be
denied top jobs in Government or parastatals.
So won't it be nice to have this calibre of politician in the
national parliament in addition to the (primarily male) warblers
who've hardly made any sense at all once they became MPs, and who
simply enjoy the sound of their own voices.
Again, it's worth remarking that anyone expressing an opinion on
a specific subject - especially when they are paid by the taxpayer
- should ensure that he or she does their homework when it comes to
whatever topic is being debated.
This is hardly evident at all on just about any matter that does
come under discussion, and it's a great pity that our MPs don't do
more research.
The country needs an informed Parliament and not people who
simply talk off the top of their heads and, in the process, further
mislead the nation with their inane rhetoric on burning priorities
that need to be dealt with far more gravity than is presently the
case.
At least the MPs have got dictionaries now, which is one giant
leap forward for our elected representatives, especially those who
didn't have them already (and although scant in number, we do have
a few who make an effort to properly brief themselves).
So the next step is to develop a reading culture, if they can
tear themselves away from their own faces on NBC-TV.
This, in turn, would lead to a significant improvement in the
standard of debate.
So, in the above regard, at the risk of having him relegated to
'hit-list' status, kudos to Ben Amathila for handing them out,
particularly when he is one of the few who probably doesn't need
one.
The next step is to hand out Chinese dictionaries, so that Party
loyalists like the SPYL man himself can read the President's
autobiography in that language to ensure they haven't taken any
liberties or shortcuts in the translation of his struggle story!
I'm not convinced that someone like a Kapia can be rehabilitated,
and so one has reason to fear that his vitriol will continue
unabated (and worse still, be reported even more prolifically and
in depth, even if there isn't any!) unless the Speaker comes out of
doze mode and calls him to order as often as is necessary.
Because he may have his knives out for the 'whiteys' and other
'un-Namibian' elements in society, but he's also got it in for a
couple of his soon-to-be colleagues in parliament as well.
So, I have some advice for Swapo, which I know they won't take -
if possible, could they skip a name or two on that list and come up
with better alternatives.
And if they do have to appoint him, then a few tips: give him
not only a dictionary, but a Thesaurus as well, so he can look up
all sorts of similes for words like 'unpatriotic' and 'imperialist'
and vary his pronouncements on these topics in future, and, for
heaven's sake, don't seat him next to Hidipo Hamutenya! The latter
may not be in favour currently, but he surely doesn't deserve a
punishment like that!
For those of you somewhat confused about the 'list' thing, just for
clarity's sake, remember that there are two lists.The one in
question is the official Swapo Party 'list' of candidates in order
of preference, and this is the one on which Kapia's name is next
for a seat in the National Assembly.Then there's the other one,
hinted at but never officially unveiled, which is none other than
the SPYL man's own list (or 'hit list' if you prefer).It includes
those he perceives as non-patriotic Swapo-supporting cadres of
alleged questionable gender orientation or with links to foreign
imperialists, among others, and who should therefore be denied top
jobs in Government or parastatals.So won't it be nice to have this
calibre of politician in the national parliament in addition to the
(primarily male) warblers who've hardly made any sense at all once
they became MPs, and who simply enjoy the sound of their own
voices.Again, it's worth remarking that anyone expressing an
opinion on a specific subject - especially when they are paid by
the taxpayer - should ensure that he or she does their homework
when it comes to whatever topic is being debated.This is hardly
evident at all on just about any matter that does come under
discussion, and it's a great pity that our MPs don't do more
research.The country needs an informed Parliament and not people
who simply talk off the top of their heads and, in the process,
further mislead the nation with their inane rhetoric on burning
priorities that need to be dealt with far more gravity than is
presently the case.At least the MPs have got dictionaries now,
which is one giant leap forward for our elected representatives,
especially those who didn't have them already (and although scant
in number, we do have a few who make an effort to properly brief
themselves).So the next step is to develop a reading culture, if
they can tear themselves away from their own faces on NBC-TV.This,
in turn, would lead to a significant improvement in the standard of
debate.So, in the above regard, at the risk of having him relegated
to 'hit-list' status, kudos to Ben Amathila for handing them out,
particularly when he is one of the few who probably doesn't need
one.The next step is to hand out Chinese dictionaries, so that
Party loyalists like the SPYL man himself can read the President's
autobiography in that language to ensure they haven't taken any
liberties or shortcuts in the translation of his struggle story!
I'm not convinced that someone like a Kapia can be rehabilitated,
and so one has reason to fear that his vitriol will continue
unabated (and worse still, be reported even more prolifically and
in depth, even if there isn't any!) unless the Speaker comes out of
doze mode and calls him to order as often as is necessary.Because
he may have his knives out for the 'whiteys' and other
'un-Namibian' elements in society, but he's also got it in for a
couple of his soon-to-be colleagues in parliament as well.So, I
have some advice for Swapo, which I know they won't take - if
possible, could they skip a name or two on that list and come up
with better alternatives.And if they do have to appoint him, then a
few tips: give him not only a dictionary, but a Thesaurus as well,
so he can look up all sorts of similes for words like 'unpatriotic'
and 'imperialist' and vary his pronouncements on these topics in
future, and, for heaven's sake, don't seat him next to Hidipo
Hamutenya! The latter may not be in favour currently, but he surely
doesn't deserve a punishment like that!