Reconciliation stuck in yesteryear

THE ongoing debate on national reconciliation in the National Assembly reveals how difficult it is for many Members of Parliament to deal with the recent past.

Although the motion, introduced by CoD Member Tsudao Gurirab, requested the House to define a concept and policy guidelines, Swapo MPs have so far just harped on the atrocities committed by apartheid South Africa before 1990 instead of coming up with policy ideas. Veterans’ Affairs Minister Ngarikutuke Tjiriange recalled well-known facts about atrocities that the South African Koevoet counter-insurgency police unit committed against rural people in northern Namibia during the liberation war, but failed to mention that hundreds of black Namibians served in Koevoet.”Dead bodies of people were tied to Casspirs and paraded in the streets of villages in the north,” Tjiriange said this week in his contribution, giving an account of the last few years of the liberation struggle.He did propose, though, that “we may consider an Act of Parliament to give the concept of national reconciliation a meaning and content.”The Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, again delved into his favourite topic of slavery, which robbed Africa of millions of people sold by their chiefs to greedy European powers to work in the US or in South America.He heralded Swapo’s role in the liberation struggle and singled out former President Sam Nujoma.Finally getting to the topic of reconciliation, Kawana said: “The policy of national reconciliation should include economic reconciliation, we need to address the issue of land redistribution and the ownership of natural resources.Kawana then blamed “reactionary forces in our country who want to divert our focus from these issues.”Asked by Henk Mudge of the Republican Party to describe the ‘reactionary forces’ in detail, Kawana evaded the question.National reconciliation was declared in 1990 so that former enemies would not be persecuted or brought before a court of law.Kawana however suddenly opined that national reconciliation “should address the injustices of the colonial past.”Deputy Justice Minister Utoni Nujoma sang a praise song to his father, former President Sam Nujoma, in his speech.Referring to the submission of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) to the International Criminal Court, asking the ICC to probe Nujoma for alleged atrocities against Swapo members and thousands of people who disappeared during the liberation struggle under the care of Swapo, Nujoma junior said the attack on his father was “a well orchestrated attempt to weaken the strong support that Swapo is enjoying because of the victory of its heroic struggle, defeating the strongest white supremacist military machine on the African continent.”Nujoma junior then lashed out against NSHR Executive Phil ya Nangoloh, calling him a CIA agent.”We should be vigilant at all times, otherwise our beautiful Namibia will be destroyed by imperialist propaganda spearheaded by the likes of Ya Nangoloh, Joe Diescho (a political analyst) and the infamous prophet of doom, Henning Melber (political analyst) from the Nordic Institute in Sweden and many others,” Nujoma lashed out.”I urge this House to declare the NSHR a threat to peace and stability in Namibia,” he said.He then attacked local independent media, which in his view were owned and controlled by white people and deprived Namibians of objective and unbiased reporting, in contrast to the Swapo mouthpiece Namibia Today, which “derived its mandate from the silent majority of the Namibian people.”The debate continues next week.Veterans’ Affairs Minister Ngarikutuke Tjiriange recalled well-known facts about atrocities that the South African Koevoet counter-insurgency police unit committed against rural people in northern Namibia during the liberation war, but failed to mention that hundreds of black Namibians served in Koevoet.”Dead bodies of people were tied to Casspirs and paraded in the streets of villages in the north,” Tjiriange said this week in his contribution, giving an account of the last few years of the liberation struggle.He did propose, though, that “we may consider an Act of Parliament to give the concept of national reconciliation a meaning and content.”The Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, again delved into his favourite topic of slavery, which robbed Africa of millions of people sold by their chiefs to greedy European powers to work in the US or in South America.He heralded Swapo’s role in the liberation struggle and singled out former President Sam Nujoma.Finally getting to the topic of reconciliation, Kawana said: “The policy of national reconciliation should include economic reconciliation, we need to address the issue of land redistribution and the ownership of natural resources.Kawana then blamed “reactionary forces in our country who want to divert our focus from these issues.”Asked by Henk Mudge of the Republican Party to describe the ‘reactionary forces’ in detail, Kawana evaded the question.National reconciliation was declared in 1990 so that former enemies would not be persecuted or brought before a court of law.Kawana however suddenly opined that national reconciliation “should address the injustices of the colonial past.”Deputy Justice Minister Utoni Nujoma sang a praise song to his father, former President Sam Nujoma, in his speech.Referring to the submission of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) to the International Criminal Court, asking the ICC to probe Nujoma for alleged atrocities against Swapo members and thousands of people who disappeared during the liberation struggle under the care of Swapo, Nujoma junior said the attack on his father was “a well orchestrated attempt to weaken the strong support that Swapo is enjoying because of the victory of its heroic struggle, defeating the strongest white supremacist military machine on the African continent.”Nujoma junior then lashed out against NSHR Executive Phil ya Nangoloh, calling him a CIA agent.”We should be vigilant at all times, otherwise our beautiful Namibia will be destroyed by imperialist propaganda spearheaded by the likes of Ya Nangoloh, Joe Diescho (a political analyst) and the infamous prophet of doom, Henning Melber (political analyst) from the Nordic Institute in Sweden and many others,” Nujoma lashed out.”I urge this House to declare the NSHR a threat to peace and stability in Namibia,” he said.He then attacked local independent media, which in his view were owned and controlled by white people and deprived Namibians of objective and unbiased reporting, in contrast to the Swapo mouthpiece Namibia Today, which “derived its mandate from the silent majority of the Namibian people.”The debate continues next week.