Political perspective

ALTHOUGH the Bill before Parliament proposing that former President Sam Nujoma be called ‘Founding Father of the Namibian Nation’, has stirred up a hornet’s nest, it is bound to go through.

This despite the fact that although many Swapo MPs themselves may have private reservations about it, they’re obviously not prepared to express these thoughts publicly. Those who tried to compromise by proposing Nujoma be called the ‘Founding President’ instead, were in my view, on the right track, but they’re sadly in the minority, so ‘Founding Father’ he will be, whether people like or not.PERHAPS there’s something I’m missing, but I fail to understand precisely what this means in reality.The Bill is called the ‘Conferment of status of Founding Father of the Namibian Nation’, and was introduced by Prime Minister Nahas Angula.It basically confers the title on the former President, but that’s where it stops.The question is how this law is to be implemented.And how does one break this law? It is really the strangest thing.How is one expected to address the former President in future, especially if one does not recognise the ‘Founding Father’ status that is to be bestowed upon him? Many seem to object, primarily to the ‘Father’ aspect.They do not mind if he has the honorary title of ‘Founding President’, after all this is precisely what he is, at least of the independent Republic of Namibia.So no one, not even his fiercest critics, would have a problem with such a ‘conferment’, as it is called.And it’s not as though he is lacking as far as recognition is concerned.He has had much of that, both within Namibia and abroad.His honorary doctorate(s) not to be forgotten.But I’m not going to repeat the litany of these, which have been widely reported on.But most of these constitute material reward in one way or another, and the most important recognition he has is one which seems to be largely under-valued, and that is that he will live on in the minds and memories of a majority of the people of this country for, first and foremost, spearheading the movement which brought self-determination and independence to this country.That is the greatest reward of all! But there are those who are hell-bent upon ensuring he is given perhaps even more credit than he deserves and I have a feeling the conferment of this honour won’t be the last.There are bound to be more medals created for forthcoming Independence celebrations, among others, and things we haven’t yet even thought of.So, even though the passing of this bill into law is inevitable, I still take issue with some of those in Parliament who have addressed the matter in obsequious manner.Among others, the Minister of (all) Presidential Affairs, Albert Kawana, who said that ‘this Bill does not belong to a political party or to an individual’, but instead applied to the Namibian nation as a whole.Not so, Mr Kawana, it is very much a title for an individual! We believed we had ‘founding fathers/mothers’ of the Constitution, perhaps the single most important document in our history and one of our single biggest achievements, since it set down on paper all the things we fought for, paramount among which is the Bill of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.This, surely, was a bigger achievement on the part of a large number of people, of which Nujoma was but one.We cannot simply ignore or push aside such people and give the largesse only to one man.So if we need to give credit, let us try to think along these lines, rather than simply about a single person who led the struggle for the Independence of Namibia and subsequently went on to become the country’s first President, serving three consecutive terms.Those who tried to compromise by proposing Nujoma be called the ‘Founding President’ instead, were in my view, on the right track, but they’re sadly in the minority, so ‘Founding Father’ he will be, whether people like or not.PERHAPS there’s something I’m missing, but I fail to understand precisely what this means in reality.The Bill is called the ‘Conferment of status of Founding Father of the Namibian Nation’, and was introduced by Prime Minister Nahas Angula.It basically confers the title on the former President, but that’s where it stops.The question is how this law is to be implemented.And how does one break this law? It is really the strangest thing.How is one expected to address the former President in future, especially if one does not recognise the ‘Founding Father’ status that is to be bestowed upon him? Many seem to object, primarily to the ‘Father’ aspect.They do not mind if he has the honorary title of ‘Founding President’, after all this is precisely what he is, at least of the independent Republic of Namibia.So no one, not even his fiercest critics, would have a problem with such a ‘conferment’, as it is called.And it’s not as though he is lacking as far as recognition is concerned.He has had much of that, both within Namibia and abroad.His honorary doctorate(s) not to be forgotten.But I’m not going to repeat the litany of these, which have been widely reported on.But most of these constitute material reward in one way or another, and the most important recognition he has is one which seems to be largely under-valued, and that is that he will live on in the minds and memories of a majority of the people of this country for, first and foremost, spearheading the movement which brought self-determination and independence to this country.That is the greatest reward of all! But there are those who are hell-bent upon ensuring he is given perhaps even more credit than he deserves and I have a feeling the conferment of this honour won’t be the last.There are bound to be more medals created for forthcoming Independence celebrations, among others, and things we haven’t yet even thought of.So, even though the passing of this bill into law is inevitable, I still take issue with some of those in Parliament who have addressed the matter in obsequious manner.Among others, the Minister of (all) Presidential Affairs, Albert Kawana, who said that ‘this Bill does not belong to a political party or to an individual’, but instead applied to the Namibian nation as a whole.Not so, Mr Kawana, it is very much a title for an individual! We believed we had ‘founding fathers/mothers’ of the Constitution, perhaps the single most important document in our history and one of our single biggest achievements, since it set down on paper all the things we fought for, paramount among which is the Bill of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.This, surely, was a bigger achievement on the part of a large number of people, of which Nujoma was but one.We cannot simply ignore or push aside such people and give the largesse only to one man.So if we need to give credit, let us try to think along these lines, rather than simply about a single person who led the struggle for the Independence of Namibia and subsequently went on to become the country’s first President, serving three consecutive terms.