Political Perspective

MANY Namibians, Swapo adherents included, have now had it with the ‘struggle kids’! In the early stages of their ‘awakening’ (even though it came after nearly 20 years of independence) there were those who felt compassion towards the exile youth, at least in terms of them being given the basics in terms of ID documents and a fair shot at employment.

But that feeling has now rapidly dissipated, especially given their weekend antics in northern Namibia, among others, blocking roads, and even worse, rejecting a a of food because it came from a member of an opposition party!I MUST say that it is confirmation of the latter that has especially angered me.In order to establish the background to the donation of the food to the youth gathered near the Swapo offices in Oshakati, I called the ‘good Samaritan’ in question, Phillemon Moongo, the Vice President of the DTA, who also happens to be a local headman, MP, businessman and former Plan commander. He was prompted into the gesture because he was also in exile and fought alongside their parents and sympathised with the plight of the ‘kids’.His gesture was not political in intent, he had not identified himself as such, and in fact when he donated the food the question was asked of him by the youth whether he wanted media present. He did not, and said so. He told me he was concerned about the kids, had in fact last week asked questions in Parliament about their future and had been told by Minister Ngarikutuke Tjiriange that they could not benefit through the Veterans Bill.He had therefore bought, among others, 50 kg of maize, 20 loaves of bread, oil and fish, sugar and tea, and after identifying himself to their leader, John Malumbu, some of the youths themselves had helped offload the food. More than that, one of them had called him a few days later to ask him to intervene on their behalf with the Government and send a delegation to talk to them. They had not rejected his offer, or discarded the food in his presence, Moongo said, and he had left.Moongo added that he had called the Prime Minister earlier this week to relay the message of the ‘struggle kids’ and the latter had accused him of ‘instigating’, saying that a Cabinet committee was tasked with the matter.Afterwards, it appears the youth, whether of their own volition or advice from others, ‘threw away’ the food! And this makes me mad. If they didn’t want it, there are many other hungry Namibians who would have more than welcomed the donation. Are the ‘struggle youth’ so filled with a sense of entitlement that they spurn help from all quarters other than Swapo? If so, they don’t deserve it in the first place. What they may not realise is that if Government did indeed help them, it would not be Swapo, but all Namibian taxpayers who’d be footing the bill!It seems clear to me is that Moongo donated the food out of the goodness of his heart. The mere fact that he did not want his gesture publicised seems to point to this being a purely humanitarian gesture. Swapo, of course, may see things differently on this score, and probably do. But they would clearly see an agenda here even if there is none.It is very important not to make this issue a political football, especially in an election year. To all intents and purposes, Swapo (apart from SPYL) haven’t been overly sympathetic to the cause of the ‘struggle kids’, but feel they can’t play hardball precisely because it may affect the vote come year-end.Namibians in general are losing patience as the ‘kids’ continue to clamour for what amounts to special treatment, while a host of other (non-exile) Namibian youths face the same dilemmas of lack of skills and employment prospects, but have to fight their battles alone and unaided. When they start to block roads and bridges and have to be teargassed to be brought to order, the public sympathy wanes even further, and if they continue to dismiss gestures of assistance and help, Namibian patience will be further eroded. How pressing can their needs really be under the circumstances?Government (Swapo) needs to now deal with this issue once and for all and decisively. If it’s any consolation, they’ll probably earn more votes if they do than if they don’t! And it is time Swapo realise that difficult or thorny issues, such as the ‘struggle kids’, the veterans etc, cannot simply be deferred because it’s an election year and they don’t want to jeopardise their support.The longer dissension is allowed to simmer, the more difficult it will be to solve in the long run. And it’s not just a Swapo issue, it’s a national issue, and the ‘struggle kids’ need to be put in their place.