Change The One Party Rule
THE definition of a dictator is a “government by a single person or by a junta or other group that is not responsible to the people or their elected representatives”.
I draw this definition simply to make the following observation: if Swapo was an individual it would be considered a dictatorship as it has ruled Namibia for the past 23 years. As someone who grew up with the previous government, I’m seeing nothing but empty promises over the last several years of democracy. I see more people struggling to survive and the infrastructure left behind being neglected and falling into a state of dilapidation that is just unacceptable.
I’m in no way insinuating that the contributions they have made to the liberty enjoyed by the Namibia people is null and void. What I’m saying is that they have been in power for so long and enjoyed the benefits of the people electing them time and time again, that they have stopped paying attention to the basic needs of the people.
Go to the north of the county where most of the Namibians live and experience the extreme poverty of the people and you will understand how this has come to be. As a little boy I remember the promises made then during the campaign for independence elections that promised real tangible change for the people. However people in those outlying areas of our country live in worse conditions now than they did years ago.
I’m also not advocating going back to white minority rule, but I’m appealing to our people to wake up and demand more out of our elected officials. We need a meaningful opposition party and not one that gets nothing accomplished and simply appears during election campaigns.
Our ministries need to be diversified and some posts need to be occupied by respected members of opposition parties to serve as a balance for the seemingly ineffective system we have now. People need to realise that if your elected officials have not done anything for you in the past 10 years they most likely won’t do anything for you if you keep voting for them.
I welcome an intelligent constructive debate about the content of this letter and would like to hear from you all.
VK
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