Did Swapo Sell Out?

THE excellent article by Keshii Pelao Nathanael (‘Namibia: More divided than ever’, The Namibian, 23 July) raises many vital issues and should be compulsory reading for all Namibians.

It is indeed a courageously written piece against such an autocratic Swapo leadership. We hope that he will write again especially about the crucial general strike of 1971-72 so that we can draw lessons about what to do today.

The main implication of that writing is that Swapo leaders Nujoma and Pohamba sold out to the apartheid-colonial regime by ‘providing’ that regime with sensitive information. Unlike so many of our genuine fighters, Nujoma and Pohamba were not jailed on Robben Island. Why? It is time for the Namibian nation to demand answers.

Of course, this is not surprising to many of us who knew all along that Swapo never liberated this country. The Swapo leadership was not even at the negotiating table and had to accept the crumbs from the table of imperialism; they were treated with disdain as they had not won anything on the battlefield that could provide them with any leverage.

Swapo did not have any military bases inside the country. So, all this talk about Swapo having liberated this country and that grotesque militaristic monument outside Windhoek represent empty boasting.

This Swapo leadership is only interested in self-enrichment; they do not care about our people. If anything, Swapo has brought misery with the feverish privatisation of everything in this country. Instead of having a discussion about the tangential and partial privatisation of a primary school, this nation should urgently debate the large-scale privatisation of the whole economy, the education and health systems, etc.

The privatisation of the fishing industry, for example, enriched a few politically-connected elite at the expense of the majority of the population who cannot even get any of our own fish in this country. The same applies to the mining, oil and gas industries – which produced a few mega-rich people while the vast majority struggle to survive.

What about the super profits of the banks, estate agents and insurance industry? Their collusion leads to the housing prices being so ridiculously high. How about the privatisation of water and electricity? What about the food prices? These are basic needs that should not be used for extracting profits.

So, Nathanael is unfortunately right that Namibia is more divided than ever. Swapo has destroyed the Namibian nation. It is time to get rid of the thoroughly corrupt Swapo elite. Wake up Namibian working class! Organise against privatisation! Organise a general strike!

KP Shitumbapo and D Aluteni

Katutura