Swapo Does Not Give Oxygen
I WRITE this piece out of love for democracy and freedom of speech. With all due respect to all the opposition parties in Namibia, I have a little political message to share with them.
Firstly, I regret to inform them that their campaigns and their political messages are not captivating. It is so painful and disheartening to see how opposition parties waste their valuable energy bickering about Swapo rather than telling the people what they will do differently that which Swapo did not do. Opposition parties should have placed themselves as alternative parties to the ruling party, but this is not the case today in Namibia.
Opposition parties must come out and tell the nation, how will they create employment? How will they diversify the economy to lure investors? How will they tackle the housing crises in Namibia? What political message of hope do they have for the citizens? What makes them different from the ruling party? How will they solve the land issues in Namibia without resorting to land grab? What plan do they have for the current education system? Opposition parties must stop playing victims by blaming Swapo for their inability enthuse the masses.
Modern politics, according to Andrew Heywood, entails doing away with dirty politics. Modern politics requires politicians to talk about economic freedom and opportunities. Leave Swapo alone and tell the nation your message of hope. Don’t tell me ‘no, because the government controls NBC’. Create your own mouthpiece like Namibia Today is for Swapo and tell the people what you will do.
The message opposition parties deliver to the nation is outdated and, in most cases, copying the very same ideas they resent from Swapo. If I was the head of Swapo, all I would do is to get the right men and women into strategic positions to alleviate poverty and unemployment. If this happens it will take opposition parties centuries to win hearts and minds of the Namibian people. What we see today are political opportunists, creating political parties with the sole purpose to have a job in the parliament.
And another sad reality is, most of the leaders of the opposition parties are in the evening of their lives. Tell me, what alternative message of hope do they have for the future generation?
They need to re-look at their rhetoric strategies and campaigns to mobilise their supporters. I am writing all these not because I hate opposition parties and love ruling party, but because I care about democracy in Namibia.
Going after Swapo, as if Swapo offers you oxygen cylinder to breathe, does not help. Opposition parties are needed in any democratic country for democracy to flourish. I’m against one party system but I would go for it if opposition parties turn themselves into less significant players of democracy.
Gerson Sindano
By email