Swapo Shames The Fist

LAST WEEKEND, Swapo leaders behaved like that arrogant uncle you were warned about, who pretends to be rich, is a show-off, and only visits the village once in five years.

This was the picture painted by Swapo’s party colours event at Ombili on the outskirts of Windhoek last weekend. The ruling party tried to woo voters by parading a convoy of hired fancy vehicles and bikes through Ombili.

Ombili [which means peace in Oshiwambo] is a mere 1,5 kilometres from the Havana informal settlement, a neighbourhood hit hard by hepatitis E deaths.

Since last year, 48 people countrywide have died from the deadly disease, which thrives in dirt.

The colours party points to a Swapo leadership out of touch with the reality facing the masses.

How else can one interpret comments by Swapo spokesperson Hilma Nicanor who, during that event, said the aim was to show off the country’s wealth to celebrate people who lost their lives during Namibia’s struggle for independence?

The audacity.

An embarrassed Nicanor subsequently issued a statement branding the media and other critics as “enemies” and “elements” who want the party to fail in the upcoming elections.

One would expect the ruling party, which claims to represent the masses, to understand that holding parades of expensive vehicles could be construed as essentially showing the middle finger [instead of the fist] – particularly to residents of Windhoek’s Tobias Hainyeko constituency. More than 28 000 of its 50 000 people rely on free, state-donated food every month.

The party needs to understand, more than ever, that it will have to pull up its socks to convince voters it cares about them, and not just their vote.

People are desperate. Many struggle to hold body and soul together on a daily basis. Meeting and understanding their pain would have been more compassionate.

Showing off in expensive vehicles amounts to nothing more than a cheap shot.

IT WAS NO SURPRISE that credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded Namibia’s creditworthiness.

That, in essence, paints Namibia as a sinking ship.

To make things worse, Fitch said a highly publicised investment summit held in August this year won’t be enough, and “will have only a muted impact on economic activity, amidst persistent structural bottlenecks”.

The government is still in denial.

Finance minister Calle Schlettwein said this week that Namibia nonetheless remains a highly rated economy in the region.

Namibians should not be surprised if politicians call for a prayer day, or Jesus’s intervention, to rescue the failing economy.

The truth is that the government does not want to take painful decisions – like cutting its bloated N$29 billion annual wage bill, eliminating waste, and rooting out corruption.

If the government is serious about improving things, it will, amongst others, immediately end its so-called Namibiansation policy on fishing quotas, which essentially benefits a coterie of the elite and their families.

Namibia is in deep trouble; tough decisions are needed.

To quote former Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara: “You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from non-conformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. Besides, it took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today.”

Crying foul over external factors will not save Namibia.

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