2025, Come Already!

“We must say no to business as usual. No (more) business as usual,” repeated Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who was declared president-elect two weeks ago.

Addressing a Swapo retreat last weekend, Nandi-Ndaitwah reminded her comrades that the ruling party’s victory came at the cost of a “reduced majority” – 12 seats fewer in the 96-member National Assembly – down to 51 of its lawmakers.

She urged the party leadership to “return to the drawing board”.

Alas, the rest of the vice president’s speech went on to sound all too familiar to provide any confidence that a Namibia led by Nandi-Ndaitwah will not be business as experienced over the past 34 years since Swapo took over the government.

The president-in-waiting made it clear the Swapo manifesto will be the blueprint to lift Namibia out of the malaise of economic decline and stagnation, inequality – with about one out of three living in shacks, youth unemployment – estimated at nearly 60%, and 90% hardly able to put together N$5 000 to survive a month.

The manifesto released by Swapo is hardly different from previous ones: Filled with huge promises of a better life; this time with an even more ambitious pledge of 550 000 jobs to be created during the president’s term.

If reviving Air Namibia remains among the ruling party’s priorities, as stated in the manifesto and repeated by several of the leaders, how can it not be business as usual?

Air Namibia, like many state-owned enterprises, has long been awash with taxpayer money to stay in business. Executives continued to get paid salaries even better than those in successful profit making private businesses, that actually make money for the economy, like the tourism industry.

N$11 billion in tax money was squandered on Air Namibia while hospitals, schools, housing, water provision and other crucial basic needs affecting great swathes of our population could not be provided. What will be done differently?

If Nandi-Ndaitwah, the vice president of Namibia and de facto head of Swapo had not been part of the government since 1990, perhaps her Presidency would be awaited with high expectations.

Despite Nandi-Ndaitwah being viewed as personally free of corruption, she has inspired little confidence as someone who will clean up by allowing too many tainted people to lead her presidential campaign. She even took photographs with some people facing fresh and active corruption allegations.

Lest we forget, Nandi-Ndaitwah remained mum when Fishrot accused Sacky Shanghala masterminded a dubious N$43 million payment for legal fees to his friends in London related to genocide.

In fact, the president-elect seemed to have hung out then finance minister Calle Schlettwein to dry when he tried to stop the payment. Perhaps that was one of the reasons Schlettwein was moved – to avoid his tight-fisted, protective approach to taxpayer coffers.

But let’s not be too pessimistic. We really hope NNN (Nandi-Ndaitwah’s moniker) will deliver decisive structural and meaningful changes for the majority of Namibians, who are hopelessly struggling to make ends meet.

After all, what’s life without hope? Let’s look to the future.

As for 2024, it seems like a year largely to forget on a national scale.

More Namibians than ever before have been declared “food insecure” – an understatement for being hungry.

The death of president Hage Geingob in February seemed to set the tone that Namibians would not have it easy in 2024, except for a small percent of the super rich private citizens and ruling party cronies who have made public procurement tenders a perennial source of their luxurious lifestyles.

The unbelievable incompetence of the Electoral Commission of Namibia could not summarise just how badly Namibia fared. One can’t make up stuff like that. To make it worse, president Nangolo Mbumba defended their work as excusable.

2025, come already!

Let’s reset in true fashion of it no longer being business as usual.