Discriminate Development

LAST week (18th or 19th April 2012), the politically appointed regional governors were receiving yet more state-funded goodies in the form of vehicles – i.e. a sedan and a 4×4 each.

Those interviewed by NBC were all complaining, for example, that relationships with regional councils were not yet clearly defined, lack of support staff, etc. In any case, were they really surprised at these issues if one takes into account the speed with which the Regional Councils’ Act was amended and how they were appointed without any proper groundwork done?The government under the leadership of my erstwhile Swapo party is getting very famous for this management style of literally placing the cart before the horse. Recent Oranjemund municipal elections represent yet another example in the long list.We have an elected municipal council but: there is no revenue base; no property valuation roll; Namibians still need permits to visit the town; and therefore the mine will continue to call the shots for a foreseeable future.Returning to the reason for writing this letter, I found the utterances by the Joshua //Hoëbeb, the governor of the Kunene Region, at the occasion of receiving the vehicles, quite nauseating and hollow. He blamed the opposition parties for blocking development in the Kunene Region, the only region that has so far remained under opposition control. As a card-carrying and loyal Swapo member (since early 1980s) who hails from and still have strong roots in the Kunene Region, I find this hard to believe. Do opposition parties really have the power to block development? I am of the opinion that it is rather the ‘winner-takes-all attitude’ of my party – Swapo – that is to be blamed for the lack of development in the Kunene Region.My party is the one punishing the people of the Kunene Region for not voting for Swapo. I am saying this because I know it is only Swapo that has the power to release or withhold development money. Residents of the Kunene Region are being penalised for exercising their constitutionally-guaranteed democratic right of voting for opposition parties.Instead of being punished, in an ideal democracy, they would have been rewarded for ‘keeping the opposition alive’. What a contradiction. I know my party will not rest and will use every trick in the book until they kill off all the opposition and control all 13 regions and all local authorities. Mark my words. Yet rural areas in regions such as Karas and Kavango, where residents have been consistently voting for Swapo, are not better off by any means. I dare ask //Hoëbeb why the Community-based Natural Resources Management programme (CBNRM), which creates wildlife and tourism conservancies, resorting under the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) is at its most successful in the Kunene than any other region. In this programme, I have witnessed (since the early 1990s) that Regional Councillors (opposition or not), the traditional leaders from different orientations, leading conservation and development NGOs and MET staff (civil servants) have joined hands with rural communities. In this effort they keep politics at bay and focus on rural development only. The success is out there for all to see.Why, Governor //Hoëbeb, has this programme worked? Please stop the political blame games and work with all Namibians regardless of the political persuasions. People are first Namibians before they belong to political parties. Opposition politicians, if given a chance, are capable of serving their country. Namibia is the only home they have. When is my Swapo party going to wake up to this reality?Desmond //GamabKunene