DEAR Swapo members, I am left desolated to note that over 50 years your support for Swapo has been blindly loyal.
There are for sure a number of blameworthy facts that the Swapo followers must put a finger on.There is plenty of money in Namibia to cater for everyone’s needs, but its concentration is in the hands of a few. As long as the so-called leaders can drive around in the fancy cars and, now and then sing their old liberation struggle songs, their supporters are happy.The leaders live totally isolated from the poor majority, except, of course, for their families, servants and the happy-go-lucky. The majority rules, according to your leaders, but the majority are hungry, unemployed and in poverty. How long will you as Swapo supporters allow the lives of thousands of people who cannot endure the permanent threat of repressive measures that bring unemployment, poverty and hunger to continue?Democratic elections at any level in Namibia are as rare as justice itself. Swapo leaders have so far been unable and unwilling to establish criteria for recognising, correcting and avoiding errors, and still the followers support their wrongdoings.Why and how do we find ourselves in corruption? The most interesting question remains, what should we do about it?It doesn’t matter for you as Swapo followers how many mistakes your leaders make, you give them the go-ahead to continue making them, whatever the consequences. It seems like the youth leaders are now folding their hands praying for the die-hards to die.At the end of the day what can be done, besides waiting for them to die off? They are in power for more than 20 solid years! And even if they die, what are the chances of their replacements holding other views? No one in Namibia who cares about freedom can afford to be absent from the battle, for we all are on the field. We are passengers on the so-called freedom train, although some are travelling first class. We have a stake in staying on, and only popular pressure can avoid a fast-approaching collision.Whether you are a die hard Swapo supporter, it’s the shape of your own lives and our children’s that are at stake, like it or not. We must all take a stand. For me personally it seems like being oshiWambo-speaking is a kind of a gateway to everything and supporters must be decisive factors in ensuring Swapo doesn’t revert to being the Owamboland People’s Organisation.Frans WitbooiWindhoek
