Namibia’s ‘New Apartheid’

‘BORN FREES’ – it is time you ask questions, demand and expect more from your political leadership. And to the general youth population, we should be concerned about the socio-economic situation in Namibia and engage our political leadership and representatives.

Simply stated, ‘born free’ is anyone who was born after 21st March 1990, in an independent Namibia. The main reason for my writing is my irritation with a lack of interest among this group and the youth regarding problems and issues affecting their daily lives. As much as the Apartheid era was not a great experience for the country, I’m grateful I was born in that era which has ignited my interest and curiosity about my daily experience and politics. I’m not saying that everyone should have a keen interest in politics like I do, yet, I think it’s dangerous to be ignorant of issues, policies, and government agendas that affect everything that we do – whether at schools, colleges or university, clinics and hospitals, rural or urban environments. Unfortunately, society is organised through political structures and processes, and to be ignorant of these processes is to be unaware of issues and problems in our communities. The ‘born frees’, who have been fed government propaganda and manipulated facts and accounts of history of the liberation struggle is at a disadvantage in many ways. They don’t have a reference point in the development that has taken place or change of events in Namibia. South Africa left a decent infrastructure in the country – roads, schools, clinics and hospitals, ports and aviation, productive civil workforce and facilities, to mention a few. Take note! I’m not an advocate for the South African regime, but these are simply facts. I’m not going to be selective in my accounts of my experience; we should tell both the positive and negative sides of our history, in particular the South African occupation. Historians will agree that history should be told as events that happened, whether we agree or disagree with these events. It is just an account of events, the justification or not is a different matter and subject. The ‘born frees’ and the young people, who in many cases have been fed our history without any critical questioning and engagement and taught to be obedient of their government under the disguise of patriotism or through intimidation is a liability to development and progress that we much need in Namibia. In school and their homes, they are conditioned to believe that Swapo brought independence to Namibia. Therefore, they should respect the liberation movement leadership for their sacrifice for the liberation struggle, or worship them as heroes. Who is a hero and the motivation of people to do heroic acts is a different matter. I have many reservations about Namibian heroes, particularly those that want us to recognise them and not history. Who is a hero or not is not our duty; that should be reserved for the future generations to debate and determine. In Namibia, the liberation movement leadership have streets, building and facilities, and monuments named after them – they are eager and hungry for political power and influence. Popularity and credit should be gained though work and contribution to the development of Namibia, not through misleading information and manipulation of facts.Swapo has misled people through poor education and misinforming people and conditioning the poor and illiterate majority that their lives depend on Swapo and it’s the hand that feeds them. The Swapo party cannot afford to feed Namibians even for a day! There should be a separation between the government and Swapo. Swapo separated from the government will be extremely politically vulnerable and will lose popularity. That is part of the reason why Swapo has always and continues to hide under the shadow of the GRN. The GRN is a nation for all, irrespective of our political views and opinions. The One Namibia One Nation and the Reconciliation Policy was done in the interest of protecting the Swapo leadership from their atrocities during the liberation years and after. There is no One Nation in Namibia – we are divided between the better off urban and poor rural, comrades and others, rich and poor. Namibia was recently ranked as the most unequal country in the world. How can it be one Namibia? My appeal to the youth – that is the brothers and sisters of the ‘born frees’ – we have a responsibility to reconcile the truth and propaganda. Let’s occasionally engage our brothers and sisters and tell them the history of Namibia. Resources are all over the Internet, skip a day on the social sites and use the Internet to get information. Our parents in many cases cannot do it, they are married to Swapo mainly for liberating the country, despite the misery that exists among us – the majority of Namibians are poor. Common sense tells me that poor people should be in charge of the development policies of our country as they can use their vote to do so. Unfortunately, they are too poor and illiterate to properly understand their constitution and the functioning of their government. Poor people are vulnerable to systematic and political motivated intimidation. You don’t vote Swapo, we won’t build schools, clinics, or hospitals for you. They don’t understand that it is not Swapo that has built infrastructure or buildings in Namibia, it is their government, the GRN. Visit all Swapo offices and see how many of them pay their water, electricity and other bills on time and have no outstanding payments.Finally, we need to promote the culture of literacy and the value of education among our brothers and sisters, especially the ‘born frees’. Education should be targeted to beyond becoming an employee some day. Education should be a tool that makes us informed and active participants in the civic discourse in our country. You don’t have to be a politician to engage your governors, regional councils, town councils, parliamentarians, and other politically elected leadership. Most important, as most of you will vote for your first time – look around you and see the poverty and misery that is all over Namibia. Don’t be fooled and tricked by the same propaganda and promises that have been recycled for the past 18 years. They will create jobs for you – ask them what has stopped them from doing so for the past 18 years. Corruption and mismanagement of the scarce resources is the order of the day in Namibia. Millions maybe billions of Namibian Dollars went missing or stolen from our government and no one is held accountable. Swapo is campaigning for the November elections using the same old and obsolete liberation struggle credential and slogans. Apartheid and Colonialism is gone and Namibia has new enemies such as poverty, unemployment, HIV-AIDS, alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, and gender based violence, poor education, corruption, poor health facilities, lack of safe drinking water, poor living conditions, and the list is endless. Vote for social and economic progress and justice. For the ‘born frees’ your struggle to liberate Namibians from misery due to the above mentioned problems and issues has just begun. Namibia has a new apartheid, we are separated by the rich and poor, comrades and others, advantaged and disadvantaged. All this has happened in an independent Namibia, and Swapo should be blamed and held accountable. We can’t blame Apartheid and Colonialism for our problems after nearly 20 years of independence. It has not helped us and will never help us. Many of you are voiceless – speak with your powerful vote in November! JWRunduNote: Name and address provided – Ed