Counting The Cost Of Power Struggles

THE goings-on in Keetmanshoop at the CoD Extraordinary Congress have been widely reported in the nation’s media.

The party has in fact enjoyed more press coverage over the internecine battles plaguing it now, than throughout its previous history, even when a few short years ago it had the courage to take on the Swapo juggernaut. What happened in Keetmanshoop, culminating in the dramatic walkout of some 50 per cent of the delegates, after the votes were counted and the results made known, would be the stuff of low comedy, if the consequences for the party were not so dire.Having to rely wholly on media coverage of the events, it was difficult to discern the principle on which the party was so seriously divided.At a distance, and this may not be true, it appeared as if the old enemy – a power struggle, which has bedevilled the party previously – was at work yet again.Disappointingly, the leaders chose to wash the CoD’s dirty linen in public, which one thinks must be cause for derision in some quarters, and merriment elsewhere.That this ferocious, futile, fratricidal, farcical and ultimately fruitless exercise cost an already cash-strapped party N$300 000 must be cause for serious concern among party sympathisers.It seems to me that mature reflection was conspicuously absent at the deliberations.The party, however small, does still represent the aspirations of many Namibians after all, and those who made the long pilgrimage to Keetmanshoop seemed to be unmindful of this.It was never a consideration when the party was at the polls.Its envisaged role then was to help to educate the populace on the anatomy and functioning of the democratic ideal.This it should continue to do, instead of dissipating its energy in endless internal strife.One hopes that reason will ultimately prevail before the schism between the contending fractions becomes too broad to bridge, and that those entangled in this morass can find a workable accord, for the common good.No one who made the trip emerges with honour.All are tarnished, even those who may eventually be proved to have had right on their side, for the manner in which the leaders and the challengers in the struggle for power conducted themselves, and continue to publicly denounce one other reflect poorly on the party’s perception of political morality as well as on the public’s view of the CoD.It may be time for a new NEW BEGINNING? N C Cupido WindhoekWhat happened in Keetmanshoop, culminating in the dramatic walkout of some 50 per cent of the delegates, after the votes were counted and the results made known, would be the stuff of low comedy, if the consequences for the party were not so dire.Having to rely wholly on media coverage of the events, it was difficult to discern the principle on which the party was so seriously divided.At a distance, and this may not be true, it appeared as if the old enemy – a power struggle, which has bedevilled the party previously – was at work yet again.Disappointingly, the leaders chose to wash the CoD’s dirty linen in public, which one thinks must be cause for derision in some quarters, and merriment elsewhere.That this ferocious, futile, fratricidal, farcical and ultimately fruitless exercise cost an already cash-strapped party N$300 000 must be cause for serious concern among party sympathisers.It seems to me that mature reflection was conspicuously absent at the deliberations.The party, however small, does still represent the aspirations of many Namibians after all, and those who made the long pilgrimage to Keetmanshoop seemed to be unmindful of this.It was never a consideration when the party was at the polls.Its envisaged role then was to help to educate the populace on the anatomy and functioning of the democratic ideal.This it should continue to do, instead of dissipating its energy in endless internal strife.One hopes that reason will ultimately prevail before the schism between the contending fractions becomes too broad to bridge, and that those entangled in this morass can find a workable accord, for the common good.No one who made the trip emerges with honour.All are tarnished, even those who may eventually be proved to have had right on their side, for the manner in which the leaders and the challengers in the struggle for power conducted themselves, and continue to publicly denounce one other reflect poorly on the party’s perception of political morality as well as on the public’s view of the CoD.It may be time for a new NEW BEGINNING? N C Cupido Windhoek