Political Perspective

I MUST say I’m somewhat disappointed in our Minister of Justice, Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, who, during a recent speech at Tsumeb, showed rather reactionary tendencies which don’t suit the high office she holds.

We all know what her Ministry stands for, or what it should stand for, namely justice and fairness to all, but she certainly doesn’t talk that way when it comes to politics. THE speech I’m referring to was reported on in the Government newspaper, so I take it they’ve quoted her correctly, especially since her appeal was largely to Swapo members not to complain about their leadership in what she referred to as “Western-controlled media”.Preferably they should use party channels, but if not, the Minister advised, they should air their views in either the Swapo publication, Namibia Today, or the Government mouthpiece, New Era.The inference is of course that the “Western-controlled media” include The Namibian as well as the Afrikaans and German dailies.There’s not a great deal of love lost between competitive print media in this country, but I think others here would certainly echo my sentiments if I challenge the Minister in question to “prove it”.What she said is really not much different to the statements by the likes of discredited Swapo Youth League Secretary, Paulus Kapia, who called on Government to appoint only ‘comrades’ to high posts; and on Swapo members not to buy this newspaper.Coming from the Minister of Justice though, this is nothing short of shocking.Is she, like Kapia before her, trying to tell Swapo members what to say and do? But she went further.What she terms the “Western-controlled media” are, in her view, also apparently spearheading a campaign to destroy the credibility of certain Swapo leaders.She cautioned that what she called the “cream” of Swapo leadership should be “protected unconditionally” because the “enemy” wants to penetrate and cause havoc among them.Has nobody bothered to tell her that the ‘enemy’ is within Swapo? But she should surely know this as the person whose high office (Attorney General) was directly confronted as having harboured the likes of the weasel ‘Ananias Nghifitikeko’, who was the architect, in many ways, of the current Swapo divide; and also responsible for some of the most reprehensible character assassination the ruling party cadres have ever had to deal with! Maybe she can tell us how that ‘investigation’ ended up? And while we’re about it, what has she done about the missing N$3 million in the Ministry of Defence? Why hasn’t she pressed charges against Kapia as a former Avid Director, one of those co-responsible for the missing millions? And for allegedly having received kickbacks into the bargain? Is this the “cream” of Swapo leadership that she’s asking should be protected “at all costs”? A Party that not only welcomes back such people into their ranks, but pays them a salary as well? Was Kapia’s demise a figment of the imagination of what she terms the “Western-controlled media”? Was the missing Defence money or the mess in her Ministry, for example, also our fault? She berated those people too who have asked former President Sam Nujoma to step aside from Party leadership.Does she recall that a delegation from the highest echelons of the ruling party personally visited Nujoma to make this request? Are they also Western puppets in Iivula-Ithana’s view or did the media invent that visit too? Reading between the lines, what she also said is that Swapo leaders should be “respected irrespective of their status in life after exile…”and apparently regardless of whether they do wrong or not.This is rich coming from our Minister of Justice.And finally, to add insult to injury, she promised that Swapo “has the capacity” to deal with their enemies and had proved this in the past.Perhaps another reshuffle is in order.Iivula-Ithana may prove more effective in State Security than she is in Justice! I’m forced to wonder whether some of the “cream” she refers to is not getting just a little bit sour!THE speech I’m referring to was reported on in the Government newspaper, so I take it they’ve quoted her correctly, especially since her appeal was largely to Swapo members not to complain about their leadership in what she referred to as “Western-controlled media”.Preferably they should use party channels, but if not, the Minister advised, they should air their views in either the Swapo publication, Namibia Today, or the Government mouthpiece, New Era.The inference is of course that the “Western-controlled media” include The Namibian as well as the Afrikaans and German dailies.There’s not a great deal of love lost between competitive print media in this country, but I think others here would certainly echo my sentiments if I challenge the Minister in question to “prove it”.What she said is really not much different to the statements by the likes of discredited Swapo Youth League Secretary, Paulus Kapia, who called on Government to appoint only ‘comrades’ to high posts; and on Swapo members not to buy this newspaper.Coming from the Minister of Justice though, this is nothing short of shocking.Is she, like Kapia before her, trying to tell Swapo members what to say and do? But she went further.What she terms the “Western-controlled media” are, in her view, also apparently spearheading a campaign to destroy the credibility of certain Swapo leaders.She cautioned that what she called the “cream” of Swapo leadership should be “protected unconditionally” because the “enemy” wants to penetrate and cause havoc among them.Has nobody bothered to tell her that the ‘enemy’ is within Swapo? But she should surely know this as the person whose high office (Attorney General) was directly confronted as having harboured the likes of the weasel ‘Ananias Nghifitikeko’, who was the architect, in many ways, of the current Swapo divide; and also responsible for some of the most reprehensible character assassination the ruling party cadres have ever had to deal with! Maybe she can tell us how that ‘investigation’ ended up? And while we’re about it, what has she done about the missing N$3 million in the Ministry of Defence? Why hasn’t she pressed charges against Kapia as a former Avid Director, one of those co-responsible for the missing millions? And for allegedly having received kickbacks into the bargain? Is this the “cream” of Swapo leadership that she’s asking should be protected “at all costs”? A Party that not only welcomes back such people into their ranks, but pays them a salary as well? Was Kapia’s demise a figment of the imagination of what she terms the “Western-controlled media”? Was the missing Defence money or the mess in her Ministry, for example, also our fault? She berated those people too who have asked former President Sam Nujoma to step aside from Party leadership.Does she recall that a delegation from the highest echelons of the ruling party personally visited Nujoma to make this request? Are they also Western puppets in Iivula-Ithana’s view or did the media invent that visit too? Reading between the lines, what she also said is that Swapo leaders should be “respected irrespective of their status in life after exile…”and apparently regardless of whether they do wrong or not.This is rich coming from our Minister of Justice.And finally, to add insult to injury, she promised that Swapo “has the capacity” to deal with their enemies and had proved this in the past.Perhaps another reshuffle is in order.Iivula-Ithana may prove more effective in State Security than she is in Justice! I’m forced to wonder whether some of the “cream” she refers to is not getting just a little bit sour!