Political Perspective

AN obsessively secret society is a closed one which won’t get us anywhere, and there is a burning need for transparency, openness and accountability at all levels, in particular Government.

We have our roots in the ‘secret’ apartheid society, where clandestine, often dark things, plots and plans, happened behind closed doors. We know all too well the consequences of a system where the truth is often hidden, and we should guard against continuing past practices in an independent Namibia, where secrecy continues to take root despite our stated commitment to a more open and democratic environment.SECRECY is not conducive to a well-informed public who need to make choices so integral to a working democracy.Wikipedia says that “governments often attempt to conceal information from other governments and the public.These state secrets can include weapon designs, military plans, diplomatic negotiation tactics, and secrets obtained illicitly from others …Most nations have some form of Official Secrets Act …and classify material according to the level of protection needed (hence the term “classified information”).(While) few people dispute the desirability of keeping critical nuclear weapon design information secret, many believe government secrecy to be excessive and too often employed for political purposes”.For this reason, many countries have laws that attempt to limit government secrecy, such as the US Freedom of Information Act and ‘sunshine’ laws.South Africa has followed suit, but in Namibia attempts to come up with such legislation have not yet seen the light of day.And while one can acknowledge the need for confidentiality with regard to certain projects and plans, it is not desirable to use secrecy for political purposes, and in our country there is a tendency to keep under wraps information which is in the public interest.If there was less secrecy, there’d be less need for ‘whistleblowers’, especially when it comes to matters such as corruption.If there was less secrecy, there’d also be less likelihood of ‘leaked’ information; and again, because of secrecy, matters which should be easily explained by the media, among others, to the public, are often misrepresented because government officials are not themselves open and transparent.If we take the whole ‘Etosha affair’ which is currently playing itself out in the nation’s media, it is absolutely clear that had Government been transparent and open about the whole matter in the first place, the saga would not have reached the dimensions it has done, with far-reaching implications on international agreements and even personalities involved in the whole deal.If there was less secrecy around, for example, the requirement for elected Members of Parliament and other politicians to declare their interests, there would be less confusion and more transparency about conflicts of interests.As matters stand at present, only the President has insight into these declarations on the part of politicians.The public itself is not part of the process, and it is therefore arguable whether this constitutes a ‘check and balance’ on power which was probably the intention of the legislation in the first place.There’s also the currently unfolding saga of the apparently imminent demise of the Chairperson of the Board of the NBC, Ponhele ya France, who has been openly identified in a ‘secret’ document as a man who should lose his job, yet the incumbent Minister denies that is his plan.Unfortunately for him, and perhaps fortunately for the public at large, secret documents have a tendency to be leaked as has happened in this case, and so the Minister has now been shown up publicly as the man clearly behind the plan to unseat the NBC chair! There is no question of national interests being jeopardised in this, and most other cases involving excessive secrecy, and this is what makes it even more unpalatable.It is regrettable that this ‘secrecy’ remains dominant in the Swapo party today, even though there are signs of an opening up with the Youth League’s recent demands for clarity and accountability on issues which are close to their own heart.Swapo the liberation movement was more justifiably secretive, given the war situation at the time and the fact that people could and were be placed at risk in the situation that prevailed at the time, but there is no more need for this today.There are many unacceptable secrets that have not yet seen the light of day.The murkiness surrounding Namibia’s gift of a diamond mine in the DRC is a case in point.In a country such as that, which has been plundered over decades by colonisers followed by a CIA-sponsored handpicked head of state, such as Mobutu, it is a disgrace that Namibia ‘owns’ natural resources in a place where the people suffer incredible hardships due precisely to this rape.Secrecy breeds witch-hunts and much of the negativity currently doing the rounds both within the Swapo movement and its relationship vis-a-vis the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).Secrecy breeds its own evils and our democracy right now is ready for a freedom of information act by means of which the public’s right to know can at least be used to hold Government accountable in cases where they shut the door on their own people.We know all too well the consequences of a system where the truth is often hidden, and we should guard against continuing past practices in an independent Namibia, where secrecy continues to take root despite our stated commitment to a more open and democratic environment.SECRECY is not conducive to a well-informed public who need to make choices so integral to a working democracy.Wikipedia says that “governments often attempt to conceal information from other governments and the public.These state secrets can include weapon designs, military plans, diplomatic negotiation tactics, and secrets obtained illicitly from others …Most nations have some form of Official Secrets Act …and classify material according to the level of protection needed (hence the term “classified information”).(While) few people dispute the desirability of keeping critical nuclear weapon design information secret, many believe government secrecy to be excessive and too often employed for political purposes”.For this reason, many countries have laws that attempt to limit government secrecy, such as the US Freedom of Information Act and ‘sunshine’ laws.South Africa has followed suit, but in Namibia attempts to come up with such legislation have not yet seen the light of day.And while one can acknowledge the need for confidentiality with regard to certain projects and plans, it is not desirable to use secrecy for political purposes, and in our country there is a tendency to keep under wraps information which is in the public interest.If there was less secrecy, there’d be less need for ‘whistleblowers’, especially when it comes to matters such as corruption.If there was less secrecy, there’d also be less likelihood of ‘leaked’ information; and again, because of secrecy, matters which should be easily explained by the media, among others, to the public, are often misrepresented because government officials are not themselves open and transparent.If we take the whole ‘Etosha affair’ which is currently playing itself out in the nation’s media, it is absolutely clear that had Government been transparent and open about the whole matter in the first place, the saga would not have reached the dimensions it has done, with far-reaching implications on international agreements and even personalities involved in the whole deal.If there was less secrecy around, for example, the requirement for elected Members of Parliament and other politicians to declare their interests, there would be less confusion and more transparency about conflicts of interests.As matters stand at present, only the President has insight into these declarations on the part of politicians.The public itself is not part of the process, and it is therefore arguable whether this constitutes a ‘check and balance’ on power which was probably the intention of the legislation in the first place.The
re’s also the currently unfolding saga of the apparently imminent demise of the Chairperson of the Board of the NBC, Ponhele ya France, who has been openly identified in a ‘secret’ document as a man who should lose his job, yet the incumbent Minister denies that is his plan.Unfortunately for him, and perhaps fortunately for the public at large, secret documents have a tendency to be leaked as has happened in this case, and so the Minister has now been shown up publicly as the man clearly behind the plan to unseat the NBC chair! There is no question of national interests being jeopardised in this, and most other cases involving excessive secrecy, and this is what makes it even more unpalatable.It is regrettable that this ‘secrecy’ remains dominant in the Swapo party today, even though there are signs of an opening up with the Youth League’s recent demands for clarity and accountability on issues which are close to their own heart.Swapo the liberation movement was more justifiably secretive, given the war situation at the time and the fact that people could and were be placed at risk in the situation that prevailed at the time, but there is no more need for this today.There are many unacceptable secrets that have not yet seen the light of day.The murkiness surrounding Namibia’s gift of a diamond mine in the DRC is a case in point.In a country such as that, which has been plundered over decades by colonisers followed by a CIA-sponsored handpicked head of state, such as Mobutu, it is a disgrace that Namibia ‘owns’ natural resources in a place where the people suffer incredible hardships due precisely to this rape.Secrecy breeds witch-hunts and much of the negativity currently doing the rounds both within the Swapo movement and its relationship vis-a-vis the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).Secrecy breeds its own evils and our democracy right now is ready for a freedom of information act by means of which the public’s right to know can at least be used to hold Government accountable in cases where they shut the door on their own people.