Political Perspective

CERTAIN groups within Swapo continue to obsess about suspected dissidents in the ranks of the ruling party. And if they’re not careful, things are going to boomerang right back in their faces.

It really does seem to be a fruitless pursuit more suited to a situation of military warfare than to our supposedly democratic environment where everyone is guaranteed freedom of political thought, association and belief, among others. IT makes one wonder what exactly is required of a person to take up Swapo membership these days, and it won’t be long before people will be asked to swear blind oaths of loyalty written in blood before their bona fides will be accepted! If nothing else, it is bound to act as a deterrent to those even vaguely thinking about Swapo membership because the rigidity and level of commitment required is almost impossible for ordinary mortals to attain! As things stand at present in our democracy, we have a multiplicity of political parties, and people can choose to join whichever they want, and even vote differently if they choose.Particularly high-ranking party cadres seem to be quaking in their boots at present, all afraid they will be accused of ‘unparty’ activities and witch-hunted for spurious reasons of possible connections to the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).And I fail to understand the deeper reason for this campaign which, like it or not, is a form of violence.Is it simply a fear of Swapo being undermined, or infiltrated, and to what end if this is the case? This is a question that the Swapo Youth League, among others, needs to answer.If there are Swapo members or supporters considering their political options, for example, so what? Even if such people are high-ranking Government office-bearers.If they are doing the work they’ve been appointed to do, then what is the problem? People have choices and they have the right to make their choices? There are whole families who differ among one another as to their gender, political and/or religious preferences, for example.Again, so what, if they are all tolerant of their right to be different.We need to remind ourselves of the many examples history gives us of where intolerance leads.It led to the persecution and ultimate genocide against Jews and other minorities in Hitler’s Germany; similarly to the death of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis by Hutu militia in Rwanda; and it will lead us down a violent path right here in Namibia unless we stop this tendency in its tracks.An ANC Youth League activist, on a recent visit here, echoed the sentiments of SPYL and went even further to call for the “destruction of political cockroaches” and this is absolutely unacceptable and should be roundly condemned by any right-thinking person.It is absolutely astounding that there has been scant condemnation of such inciteful statements made by visitors to our country! The biggest irony of all is that most of what is happening is Swapo infighting.The RDP would surely take issue with me for saying this, but there’s really not a whole lot of difference between the two parties, most of whose adherents have their roots in the former liberation movement.Both sides need to measure their words very carefully, especially when it comes to making tribal connections to political decisions.Our leaders need to remember that they are the custodians of our Constitution, and it is currently being ignored with impunity, and it is still the ‘mother’ of all laws in Namibia and the Swapo manifesto secondary to it.There is little difference between the statements of a radical activist who was charged in a court of law a while back in terms of the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination Act for a placard reading ‘kill the whites’, and then to let a statement like ‘destroy the political cockroaches’ go unpunished.It is one and the same thing.Blatant prejudice and worse, a call to violence.Namibia will become ungovernable if we allow groups intent on this path to hold sway.They risk destabilising the otherwise relatively peaceful coexistence between the various groups in Namibia’s pluralistic society and this cannot be permitted to happen.Our freedom was hard-won and a major part of the struggle was aimed at fighting prejudice, whether racial, political or otherwise.How can we turn our backs on those ‘whose blood watered our freedom’ and reverse the human achievements made? Let everyone finally make peace with our democracy and live with the political and other differences it allows.The war is over and we don’t want another one.IT makes one wonder what exactly is required of a person to take up Swapo membership these days, and it won’t be long before people will be asked to swear blind oaths of loyalty written in blood before their bona fides will be accepted! If nothing else, it is bound to act as a deterrent to those even vaguely thinking about Swapo membership because the rigidity and level of commitment required is almost impossible for ordinary mortals to attain! As things stand at present in our democracy, we have a multiplicity of political parties, and people can choose to join whichever they want, and even vote differently if they choose.Particularly high-ranking party cadres seem to be quaking in their boots at present, all afraid they will be accused of ‘unparty’ activities and witch-hunted for spurious reasons of possible connections to the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP).And I fail to understand the deeper reason for this campaign which, like it or not, is a form of violence.Is it simply a fear of Swapo being undermined, or infiltrated, and to what end if this is the case? This is a question that the Swapo Youth League, among others, needs to answer.If there are Swapo members or supporters considering their political options, for example, so what? Even if such people are high-ranking Government office-bearers.If they are doing the work they’ve been appointed to do, then what is the problem? People have choices and they have the right to make their choices? There are whole families who differ among one another as to their gender, political and/or religious preferences, for example.Again, so what, if they are all tolerant of their right to be different.We need to remind ourselves of the many examples history gives us of where intolerance leads.It led to the persecution and ultimate genocide against Jews and other minorities in Hitler’s Germany; similarly to the death of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis by Hutu militia in Rwanda; and it will lead us down a violent path right here in Namibia unless we stop this tendency in its tracks.An ANC Youth League activist, on a recent visit here, echoed the sentiments of SPYL and went even further to call for the “destruction of political cockroaches” and this is absolutely unacceptable and should be roundly condemned by any right-thinking person.It is absolutely astounding that there has been scant condemnation of such inciteful statements made by visitors to our country! The biggest irony of all is that most of what is happening is Swapo infighting.The RDP would surely take issue with me for saying this, but there’s really not a whole lot of difference between the two parties, most of whose adherents have their roots in the former liberation movement.Both sides need to measure their words very carefully, especially when it comes to making tribal connections to political decisions.Our leaders need to remember that they are the custodians of our Constitution, and it is currently being ignored with impunity, and it is still the ‘mother’ of all laws in Namibia and the Swapo manifesto secondary to it.There is little difference between the statements of a radical activist who was charged in a court of law a while back in terms of the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination Act for a placard reading ‘kill the whites’, and then to let a statement like ‘destroy the political cockroaches’ go unpunished.It is one and the same thing.Blatant prejudice and worse, a call to violence.Namibia will become ungovernable if we allow groups intent on this path to hold sway.They risk destabilising the otherwise relatively peaceful coexistence between the various groups in Namibia’s pluralistic society and this cannot be permitted to happen.Our freedom was hard-won and a major part of the struggle was aimed at fighting prejudice, whether racial, political or otherwise.How can we turn our backs on those ‘whose blood watered our freedom’ and reverse the human achievements made? Let everyone finally make peace with our democracy and live with the political and other differences it allows.The war is over and we don’t want another one.