Political Perspective

IT is a disgrace that our Government, represented by the ruling party, Swapo, is as spineless as it is on the Zimbabwe issue, even to the extent of silencing an Opposition motion in Parliament to condemn the human rights abuses in that country.

It’s even more shocking that it was our Foreign Minister who led the chorus in Parliament against the motion even as the Speaker (and former Foreign Minister himself) tried to convince Swapo to at least listen to the motion before they threw it out. THE protection of human rights should be cherished by all SADC countries.Perpetrators of abuses should be condemned whoever they may be and wherever they are in the world.That’s why one has what is called a ‘foreign policy’ (otherwise, why bother?!) We in this sub-continent went to war against a former white South African regime which brutally trampled the rights of a people.In our silence right now, we are sending out the message that it’s OK if black people do it to their own! Swapo are playing politics on this one, but it shouldn’t be the case.It so happens it is largely the members of the Zimbabwe opposition who’ve borne the brunt of the latest attack, but it is nevertheless unacceptable.I’m not a fan or political supporter of the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai (and less so Robert Mugabe of course), but a commitment to human rights violations requires one to speak out against such abuses whenever they occur! So there’s a section of Swapo that ducks and dives responsibility to address the issue head-on, and there’s another, more reactionary faction, who claim that reports of violations of human rights in Zimbabwe are figments of a collective European and ‘domesticated African’ imagination and/or a distortion of the truth.And a certain deputy minister who is a frequent caller to the NBC chat shows also asks why we should concern ourselves with the Zim situation when we don’t pronounce on what’s happening in Iraq and elsewhere that rights are being violated.The short and sweet of it is, of course, that we should, and many do (not our Government of course, probably under the excuse of ‘non-alignment’ or ‘non-interference’, which is usually applied in difficult situations, while there appears to be no problem allying with the dictators of this world like the Mugabes, Abachas, Bandas etc).And it stands to reason we should take close interest in what happens in our region and sub-continent and fellow SADC member country.This divide is also mirrored in our spineless National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), which, once again compromised by its Swapo allegiance, failed to reach agreement on a statement on the matter.South Africa’s Cosatu union, one which does apparently have workers’ interests at heart, berated even the South African government – which did address the issue – for its weak stance on Mugabe.In short, we can expect that the NUNW (which is otherwise quick to pronounce on matters that have nothing whatsoever to do with workers’ issues) will say nothing at all! Perhaps it’s time now for them to drop the slogan of ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ because they simply don’t believe in it anymore! At the end of the day, Swapo (and thereby our Government) don’t really have a leg to stand on and their lack of action is indefensible.If African countries took more interest in what is happening on the continent vis-a-vis the dictators and despots, then the West (so-called Europeans) probably wouldn’t have to worry.After all, the people who care about what is happening there aren’t trying to decide for Zimbabweans.They must make their own choices.But there’s not a thing wrong with us condemning excess.At the very least, that is! What we really should be doing is breaking ties with Mugabe; rescinding the US$40 million ‘loan’ which could be better used at home; and joining the sanctions regime against him.Namibians must surely remember the past when they were first in line to approve sanctions against the apartheid regime, even though these had consequences for their own people.Then Swapo was prepared to pay the price to hasten our self-determination and independence! What on earth has happened to us since then?THE protection of human rights should be cherished by all SADC countries.Perpetrators of abuses should be condemned whoever they may be and wherever they are in the world.That’s why one has what is called a ‘foreign policy’ (otherwise, why bother?!) We in this sub-continent went to war against a former white South African regime which brutally trampled the rights of a people.In our silence right now, we are sending out the message that it’s OK if black people do it to their own! Swapo are playing politics on this one, but it shouldn’t be the case.It so happens it is largely the members of the Zimbabwe opposition who’ve borne the brunt of the latest attack, but it is nevertheless unacceptable.I’m not a fan or political supporter of the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai (and less so Robert Mugabe of course), but a commitment to human rights violations requires one to speak out against such abuses whenever they occur! So there’s a section of Swapo that ducks and dives responsibility to address the issue head-on, and there’s another, more reactionary faction, who claim that reports of violations of human rights in Zimbabwe are figments of a collective European and ‘domesticated African’ imagination and/or a distortion of the truth.And a certain deputy minister who is a frequent caller to the NBC chat shows also asks why we should concern ourselves with the Zim situation when we don’t pronounce on what’s happening in Iraq and elsewhere that rights are being violated.The short and sweet of it is, of course, that we should, and many do (not our Government of course, probably under the excuse of ‘non-alignment’ or ‘non-interference’, which is usually applied in difficult situations, while there appears to be no problem allying with the dictators of this world like the Mugabes, Abachas, Bandas etc).And it stands to reason we should take close interest in what happens in our region and sub-continent and fellow SADC member country.This divide is also mirrored in our spineless National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), which, once again compromised by its Swapo allegiance, failed to reach agreement on a statement on the matter.South Africa’s Cosatu union, one which does apparently have workers’ interests at heart, berated even the South African government – which did address the issue – for its weak stance on Mugabe.In short, we can expect that the NUNW (which is otherwise quick to pronounce on matters that have nothing whatsoever to do with workers’ issues) will say nothing at all! Perhaps it’s time now for them to drop the slogan of ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ because they simply don’t believe in it anymore! At the end of the day, Swapo (and thereby our Government) don’t really have a leg to stand on and their lack of action is indefensible.If African countries took more interest in what is happening on the continent vis-a-vis the dictators and despots, then the West (so-called Europeans) probably wouldn’t have to worry.After all, the people who care about what is happening there aren’t trying to decide for Zimbabweans.They must make their own choices.But there’s not a thing wrong with us condemning excess.At the very least, that is! What we really should be doing is breaking ties with Mugabe; rescinding the US$40 million ‘loan’ which could be better used at home; and joining the sanctions regime against him.Namibians must surely remember the past when they were first in line to approve sanctions against the apartheid regime, even though these had consequences for their own people.Then Swapo was prepared to pay the price to hasten our self-determination and independence! What on earth has happened to us since then?