Namibia Looks Like Switzerland From This Side
I HAVE been for the past few days out of my small 30-square-metre apartment in Montparnasse on the left bank of Paris visiting a country whose recent past is a tale of human tragedy. My final destination is Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi.
With a stopover in Cape Town, my doctor tells me about the do’s and don’ts of travelling in central Africa, in particular Burundi: “Avoid water from the tap, avoid sliced fruits” etc. In order to reach Bujumbura, I have to fly Kenya Airways, which I connect from Johannesburg then transit at the regional hub, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
For any observant traveller, airports tell many stories about a country and Kenyatta with its retro feel is revealing. The Swapo freedom fighters who passed through JKIA in the sixties could find their way, even if blindfolded.
For my generation, the absence of any modern equipment and systems is an immediate reminder about the ravages of corruption and the impact this may have on infrastructural investment.
Unfortunately, I read in the East African newspaper that the French have gran-ted a loan for the upgrade of this sorry airport. A nation of 17 million people is certainly not worthy of such an airport, nor of loans to upgrade an airport!
Regarding my final destination, Bujumbura, I am a bit indulgent. It is not only a smaller country, but it has gone through a gruesome period of instability in its recent history.
So, l’Aeroport International de Bujumbura is not only small, but Hosea Kutako International in comparison looks like Zurich Airport! I go through the normal procedures, pay U$80 for a visa and my entry into the country is recorded manually.
My next worry is my luggage and this is confirmed when I notice that it was left behind. Again, everything is recorded manually at a makeshift Kenya Airways desk.
The whole exercise does not instil confidence. Based on experience, I always travel with extra clothes in my hand luggage, enough to cover for two days, so I proceed with a sense of déjà vu to the Hôtel Club du Lac Tanganyika, my base for two weeks.
It is in the eyes of the locals one of the best hotels around Bujumbura, nicely hugging the shores of Lake Tanganyika, which, with a sense of guilt reminds me every time I sit on my balcony, of the Tanganyika group that I have been harassing with my columns for a few years now.
The hotel is decent, but the Windhoek Country Club would then be the Burj al Arab of Dubai in the eyes of the locals.
However, the hospitality and the friendly staff make me quickly forget about the “mod cons”. After a few days, you immediately feel charmed and the delicious fish from the lake Tanganyika (with a live band from across the Lake playing Congolese Rumba) grows on you.
On day three, I had abandoned the do’s and don’ts from my doctor. And the soft-spoken, courteous nature of Burundians leaves me perplexed as to how it was possible they decimated each other on ethnic grounds.
Even if Guy wants to talk about Frank Fredericks and how well developed Namibia is, my conversations with the locals are instinctively drawn to the politics, the political situation in the country, the forthcoming watershed elections in May and how the locals carry the scars of the ethnic clashes that destroyed the country.
These are sensitive subjects, particularly genocide.
Alain, a young barman, with more knowledge about Namibia than his Namibian counterpart may have about Burundi, tells me that the democratic process has allowed for a degree of healing.
He also shares with me that the relationship between the various ethnic groups would be fine, but politicians create divisions, especially in the rural areas where people are more gullible.
Olave, a human rights assistant, tells me that the beauty of the democratic process in Burundi is that it has allowed for many things to be said.
The absence of this would have meant that tensions would simmer below and they could lead to violent conflict.
Compared with Bujumbura, Namibia’s infrastructure looks like Switzerland, but there are human and political lessons we can draw from Burundi, a country whose beautiful green hills and idyllic Lake should make it the natural Switzerland of Africa.
The humanity and the humility do not leave you indifferent. Similarly, the marks of a recent violent past are visible. Namibia for its part should draw on these lessons, while marching forward on a path of good governance and the consolidation of an open democratic process, whose major objective is human development.
* Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari is a PhD fellow in political science at the University of Paris- Panthéon Sorbonne, France.