Entrenching A Gerontocracy In Namibia
By: ALFREDO HENGARI
ONE of the most defining features of African demographics, including Namibia, is that we have young populations. In fact, according to official government statistics from the National Planning Commission, elderly people aged 65 years and over, numbered 66,000 or only 3.6 per cent of the population of Namibia in 2001.
This figure is said to reach 71, 200 in the year 2011, and 86 100 in year 2021. On the other hand, children up to the age of 14 constitute about 42 per cent of the total Namibian population. In its country profile report for Namibia, UNICEF mentions that in 2008, 946 000 Namibians were under the age of 18. The conclusion we can make here is that on the whole, our country is not only young in terms of the number of years it has been independent, but also has a young population. The point I seek to emphasise here is that the future of this country belongs to these young people. In light of this, Vision 2030 is about the youth. Yet, this segment of our population has become one of the most marginalised and neglected identities in terms of national economic development, including the key social indicators.
It is not wrong to argue or to assume that the reason for this neglect has partially to do with the structure of our politics. With the structure of our politics, I mean to say that leadership trends in this country do not mirror the demographics of our population. Such a situation may have inadvertently led to a disconnect between the aspirations of the youth and what those in leadership are actually doing in alleviating the plight of young people. In fact, what one senses is a leadership that has become out of touch with this constituency. It is also a leadership that has become more and more suspicious of this constituency. It is not uncommon to hear that the younger generations are selfish; not ready to govern in the interests of the republic. Admittedly, the youth has perpetuated this cycle by not affirming an independent identity when it comes to the leadership of the country. The youth has continued to defer to a generation that has over time become exceedingly self-serving. Officially, we are now a gerontocracy - a democracy of old men. The question Namibians should ask is how a democracy of old men can look after the interests of a majority young population. Such questioning is not rooted in some phobia for a gerontocracy, but it is more informed by the realities of the modern republic. There are two things that define the modern leader: ideas and the energy to carry out those ideas. In the absence of energy, courage would do the job. Alas, we have not been getting energy, nor have we been getting fresh ideas from our gerontocracy. Decreased faculties of the aged can potentially be a handicap in providing effective leadership. Such handicaps can even be more pronounced when the gerontocracy is not necessarily a competent one. China’s leadership is not democratic, but their legitimacy is rooted in competence. So, the issue is not a gerontocracy per se, but it is more a question of skills and the competence that comes from our gerontocracy.
The challenge in Namibia is not only one of getting the gerontocracy to think beyond its own interests, but one of getting beyond such traditional conceptions of leadership. This supposes that we avoid the conservatism that has permeated leadership succession in Namibia whose sole criteria is seniority on the basis of age and longevity. Second, this supposes that we are not content with a leadership that is more driven by compassion and loyalty toward each other as opposed to a commitment to a dynamic project for the country. To look at success in politics on the basis of how long we have stayed in power is in itself an anomaly. There is a generation that has done enough for this country. It is a mistake for this generation to believe that only they can carry a discourse and a project that unites and can take Namibians forward. What we ought to do then, is undo the gerontocracy.
* Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari is a PhD fellow in political science at the University of Paris- Panthéon Sorbonne, France.