‘I cannot address tribal festivals’

President Hage Geingob says he cannot attend tribal festivals because he is a national leader, and these events pose a challenge to nation building.

Geingob attended the San Cultural Festival at Gobabis on Friday and the Annual Damara Festival at Okombahe on Saturday.

The president yesterday explained his stance on the matter to the United States assistant secretary on African Affairs, Molly Phee, during her courtesy visit to State House.

“I have been praised by my minister of international relations, saying ‘it was good you went there’. I said no. You see, when you say something is tribal, I should not go there.

The president said in the past they called it the king’s festival, which he would be willing to attend. “But when you are saying it is a tribal thing, calling it a Damara festival, it is very difficult for nation building,” he said.

Geingob has not attended the Annual Damara Festival since he became president nearly nine years ago, despite several invitations.

He said the various ethnic groups are like bricks making up the Namibian house, which is then painted in the country’s colours.

“Once you have painted the Namibian colours, you should no longer identify tribes,” he said.

Geingob said he did not want to address the festivals, because he can only address the Namibian house.

“What you are doing is tribal,” Geingob told the crowd at Okombahe over the weekend at the Annual Damara Festival.

‘DISAPPOINTED’

Council of Traditional Leaders chairperson chief Immanuel /Gaseb has expressed disappointment in Geingob, saying when the Damara ethnic groups attempt to take initiative, they are labelled tribalists.

“I am disappointed. Every time someone talks about the Damara, it is tribalism. Tribal groups have governors. When it comes to Erongo we cannot have our Damara governor. Is that tribalism? Is it the name of the Damara festival? What must we call these festivals?” he asks.

The chief says all Namibians are proud to be part of their ethnicities, but the Damara community feels excluded from the Namibian house.

“I am proud to be a Damara, but not because I am tribalist,”
/Gaseb says.

The president has attended the Omagongo Cultural Festival, which is an annual event hosted by eight Aawambo communities, predominantly from the northern regions of Namibia.

This is in addition to his attendance of the Olufuko Cultural Festival.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

/Gaseb further took issue with the statements made by the minister in the Presidency, Christine //Hoëbes, on the crafting of the national anthem.

According to a daily publication, //Hoëbes said the late Axali Doëseb cannot be given exclusive credit for the national anthem.

She said this at the Annual Damara Festival.

She said Doëseb, who died on 27 October, only provided the melody for the anthem, the publication reported.

New Era has reported that presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari has said Doëseb is the composer and author of ‘Land of the Brave’.

“There is no dispute or ambiguity about that,” he has said.

/Gaseb says Doëseb did not receive much for his contribution.

“He never even got a house from the government. What Axali did was a very big thing for the country to write the national anthem, but he received nothing. Is it because he is Damara?
“I have to defend my people. Are we not part of this country?” /Gaseb asks.

Political science lecturer Rui Tyitende says Namibia’s different cultures should be acknowledged.

“There is nothing tribal about cultural festivals. In fact, it has been the political elite which has been sowing seeds of resentment towards other ethnic groups to achieve their political goals,” he says.

He says it is, however, problematic when ethnic differences are used to exclude people from socio-economic goods and services.

“As a matter of fact, president Geingob is the beneficiary of a project that called for a non-Aawambo president to lead Namibia after Hifikepunye Pohamba. We should embrace our diversity,” Tyitende says.

‘NOT TRIBES, BUT
ETHNIC GROUPS’

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah says Geingob’s sentiments display pre-independence rhetoric.

“That the president is using the colonial connotation of the ‘tribal’ concept to describe his visits to the traditional communities, a colonial concept of indigenous people, is telling.

“Namibians are not tribes, they are ethnic groups,” Kamwanyah says.

He says tribalism is deeply rooted in racism and colonial philosophy.

“Awareness makes us learn about and understand each other,” he says.

Kamwanyah says it is problematic when culture and traditions do not translate into tangible outcomes for development and democracy.