Transformation into gear Chris Jacobie Thursday, August 21, 2014 - 08:00 Off the Desk EASY and simple government was surely the last thing on the Creator’s mind when he blessed Namibia with its endless horizons, inhospitable mountains and canyons, unconquerable deserts, one of the longest coastlines on the continent and, simultaneously, some of the most important water sources as shared borders with five other states in Southern Africa, each bigger than Namibia. Therefore, good, effective and sustainable development will always have to seek ways to live with the threat of natural adversity, and at the same time, unlock the promise of yet-to-be-discovered natural resources to continuously inspire the Namibian human diversity in the best and sustainable, as well as national interest. Unlike in many other societies comparable to Namibia, effective service delivery is not a demand and expectation of supporters of political parties, usually between elections only, is a responsibility that any party will carry whenever they intend to be the government. A much bigger responsibility lies with a constitutional system with an executive president with executive powers. This week saw constitutionalism and statesmanship again at work when the prime minister and Swapo presidential candidate, Dr Hage Geingob, announced that the contributions from the RDP opposition on the voting rights of additional members, as well as proposals on the election ceiling were incorporated in the amendment bill. To the silent majority it came as no surprise as it was pointed out that the democratic processes must be trusted, because the population has the final say. It is more than pitiful that ignorance has cast doubts on any one of the constitutional writers, such as the prime minister and founding constitutional chairman, but Namibians do not expect an apology from those that decided to play the man and not the ball. The majority of Namibians, however, are still correct in their trust of the constitutional chairman towards the founding document. Some of the more administrative amendments of strengthening the institutions of good and just government should also be demystified and removed from the cheapo politics it was unsuccessfully dragged into. Vast distances and the sparse population density of many parts of the South, the Hardap and //Kharas Regions, make it impossible for representatives to properly represent the needs of constituencies where people can travel for hours without observing another soul on to the road. In the North it is hard to travel a kilometre on the main road from Oshivelo to Ruacana or from Outapi back to Eenhana without seeing thousands of people, but from Eeenhana to Nkurenkuru for close to 300 kilometres hardly a soul will be encountered. The logic is that much more infrastructure is needed for more people and therefore much more representation. As with the sword of truth, the sword of democracy has a cutting edge on both sides. The tragedy here is also that the more infrastructures the more difficult it is to regularly inspect and, therefore, maintain it. There are more schools and clinics but even these are a curse, because the development and infrastructure in Namibia’s northern areas must also feed the needs of the Angolan people, who need medical attention or other services. On top of that, why must a population that attends school and places such a high premium on education, be blamed for it, while it is common to see children going to school during holidays and weekends in the remote areas? The question of representation of people is not about numbers only, because if that were the case, the huge numbers of the Samora Machel Constituency in Katutura warrant more councillors than Okalongo and Bethanie, Aus, Warmbad and Mariental combined. Havanna and Ombili settlements have no CEO, but Karibib has. Namibians are not sheep that have to be apportioned to shepherds. Namibians must be attended to according to their needs and circumstances and that is what the amendments will address. Namibians begin to suspect that those opposing consolidation of power towards transformation are those that fear accountability. Unlike popular belief, Namibia is not the island of Japan where everybody speaks the same language, has had the same religion and the same value system for the past thousands of years. Namibia is also not the China of many thousands of years ago that could build a wall around the country to keep its enemies out and its resources locked in a forbidden city. Namibia is Namibia. It is a country that changed more in the last 25 years of independence and set an international golden standard for peace and development - more in the past 25 years than in the past twenty-five hundred years. A lot has been done, but there is still much more to do. These are facts that might not be appreciated by those in civil society who only recently discovered the gems of Namibia that sparkle more than where they hail from, but prefer not to live, but rather want to lecture the country that adopted them under a constitution that treats foreigners like its own children. Namibians might not always understand their rights, but they surely understand their country and they surely understand the importance of peace in a world of turmoil. Because the Creator did not have easy governance and administration in mind, but natural beauty and a remarkable diversity of people, Namibians themselves have to create the instruments for good and effective government. That is the least they can do.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:54:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015