Q&A: The General and the President

The Namibian (TN) sat down with the country’s inaugural first gentleman-in-waiting, Denga Ndaitwah (DN), the husband of president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Ndaitwah shares details on his early life, philosophy and his role in becoming a leading figure in Swapo’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (Plan). He served as Namibia’s defence chief until he retired in 2013. He also shares his vision for his role as first gentleman.

TN: Could you share insights into your early life?
DN: I was born up north, near the area called Ondobe, well known as Ondobe ya Kaulinge. But I didn’t grow up there, because my parents moved far east to Okongo while I was very young.

Having grown up there, I’m the third of nine children. And I’m their first son, so I grew up looking after our livestock.

I was just a cattle herder until around 1962, when something came to my mind: Because our homestead was on the way to school, some children used to visit our home. And I asked my father: Why don’t I also start going to school? It was not an easy thing.

But if I started going to school, I would have given it all [cattle herding] to my father, which was not always an easy job.

When I started, my father told me: I will leave you to go to school, but remember, you go on Monday, for example, Tuesday you will not go because you will go and give water to our animals. Wednesday you will go, Thursday you will not go. And so it went on.

That happened until the exams. When we received our school certificates, I was last in my class, because I was not able to write all my subjects.

I didn’t realise much until one teacher came to me. I think he felt it wasn’t my fault. He looked at me and told me I didn’t pass only because I didn’t write all my subjects. I started crying, because I didn’t really fail.

The next year, the school let me proceed to the next class.

Can you describe the events that led to you leaving Namibia and becoming a leading figure in Plan?

When I was an expatriate, I first went to work to survive. Then me and one of my relatives, who is now an ambassador, started planning, because the doors were open to go through Angola.

The turning point came after the 1974 coup in Portugal, which led to the decolonisation of Angola and Mozambique. This opened a path for many of us to leave Namibia and join Swapo in exile. We travelled from this side through Angola to the other side. The moment you are on the other side, you don’t know where to go from there.

The majority of people spoke Portuguese. There were no cars. We were only talking about going to Zambia without knowing how to get to Zambia, where Swapo had its base.

When we got to Zambia, we all started at the lowest rank as ordinary soldiers. Like everyone else, we had to go through basic military training.

There were no shortcuts. Everyone had to prove themselves in training before advancing. After the initial training in Zambia, some of us were sent for further training in Tanzania.

I was part of a group of 500 new recruits who were transferred to a place called Kobwa, in Tanzania, for basic training in 1975.

You met your wife at a Zambian airport in 1979. Can you tell us more about this encounter?

I first saw her at the airport when she was working as Swapo’s deputy chief representative in Zambia. I was impressed by her dedication and confidence. At that moment, I didn’t know we would cross paths again.

I was impressed by this young, slender girl who got the deputy chief representative position, but at the time I did not do much.

While in Yugoslavia for training, I would always think: “Hey, do you still remember that girl you saw at the airport?”

And that is how I started making contact. When I came from Yugoslavia, I went back to Angola. We communicated and our relationship grew and grew until we decided to get married.

I flew from Angola to Tanzania and on 26 August 1983 we tied the knot. After getting married we had different responsibilities. She was the chief representative in Tanzania and responsible for a lot of the countries in east Africa.

Because of the different responsibilities it wasn’t easy to stay together and at the same time we were based in different countries.

When she returned to Namibia, she was sent to study in the United Kingdom (UK) and I was based in Angola. When she returned to the UK and I returned to Angola, we linked up again but I was sent to Walvis Bay and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This was a time when we were living close together.

You have been married for over 42 years. What were the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in those years?

One of the experiences I would say is how difficult it can be if you are not in the same profession. Like being a military man is a different profession than being a politician.

Sometimes she had to travel for work, and if we were not mature enough it would have been a problem.

Our children grew up in the same environment. They didn’t see their dad, they didn’t see their mom. Different responsibilities have taken us away from our children as they grew up.

I think they understood it was necessary.

I would say we have responsible children, because they have learnt from their parents. We can’t complain. In this country we have young boys who misbehave terribly. But honestly, we are content with our children. Only our last-born son is not married yet. The rest are married and have their own space.

They are independent, because they grew up in a family where they learnt to do things on their own.

How do you balance your personal life and your public role as the president’s husband?

This is just one part of our life. It’s just been part of our path as we grew. When we got married, she was still a member of the central committee, young as she was. I knew I got married to a politician. She knew she got married to a military man.

We started balancing, saying, I understand you and you understand me. Therefore, it wasn’t really difficult.

We had no idea that one day she would be crossing the line to be where she is today. But she remains what she has always been. She remains a wife. She comes home, puts on an apron, and starts cooking.

But I don’t eat much, so sometimes she really wants to cook, but the moment the food is there, I will start scratching all over my body until she gets . . .

She really wants to cook, and she will expect the husband and the whole family to eat.

That is the one area where I make her feel bad.

What type of president are we getting?

We are all human beings. Whether you are president, or you are a journalist, we all have our shortcomings, our aspirations. But what is needed from a leader is to lead from the front, by example.

You will only succeed if you enjoy the help of the people you are leading. One author said leadership is about doing the right thing. As a leader, I expect you to do the right thing.

And those who are following you must expect the same – you must do the right thing, and others must do things right.

There is also this understanding that as a country, we are all in one big ship, deep in the ocean. One captain is responsible for steering the ship. Others must also be responsible to help the captain, to steer the ship.

Because once this ship has sailed, it will sail with all of us.

In other words, the president will not have all the capabilities necessary to steer the country. Her success will also depend on those around her.

That’s why there are three arms of government.

How do you envision contributing to your wife’s presidency?

Number one, of course, as a partner, as a husband. I see no reason why I should not support her where I can. Psychologically, I must stand by her. But I want to leave much of her job, the political work as a president, to her. I don’t want to interfere.

As a husband, I don’t want to see my wife failing because I wasn’t able to help her where I can.

But I leave much of it to the people, to her Cabinet, to the legislature, to the judiciary, and to individual people out there to help her. And I will be one of those individuals.

I don’t want to be running the show. That’s not me, and they’re good enough. We have stayed together for a very long time now. We understand each other.

Are there specific causes you are passionate about in supporting the new president during her term?

I want to help the most vulnerable Namibian child, because we have some vulnerable children in this country.

Maybe I will sit down and say how do I want to help them? I’m looking at those who are on the streets, to get them off the streets.

Maybe I can help youngsters to go out for sport, because the idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

I haven’t established something yet, but I don’t want to be there and just fold my hands as the first gentleman.

What kind of legacy do you hope to leave as first gentleman?

Honestly, I don’t want to sit around collecting an allowance, because my wife is fighting me to collect it. If there’s a legacy it must be that people are saying they see things are happening differently.

But I don’t know how to drop a programme of leaving the legacy.

As you move, as you walk, you leave footprints. If you want people to follow where you have gone, they must get into your footprints.

That is part of the legacy I will leave behind. With a bad legacy, if you have been a thief throughout much of your time, that’s the legacy you will leave behind.

Sometimes you don’t plan to be a bad girl. But the interest in you could make you a bad person. To cut a long story short, I’m not planning to leave behind a specific legacy. What I do will form part of my legacy.

Some Namibians will question your influence on your wife. How do you address these concerns?

My main goal is to draw a clear line and to not cross that line.

This is my path, and that is where others must play a role. As I said earlier on, she’s my wife, I’m her husband.
That doesn’t mean I must not say anything.

I may sometimes see things going wrong. Then I can say I’ve seen something. Of course, you may call it policy influence, but I cannot watch things going wrong or turn a blind eye. That’s like saying I want my wife to fail.

What were your successes and challenges as chief of the defence force?

It’s not always easy to talk about your own successes. People may say these are some of the general’s successes.

So, I don’t want to talk too much about successes. I would be biased if I were to talk about that.

Maybe history will tell what the general’s successes were.

Regarding the challenges, the force was still young at that time, it still had to grow.

There were some challenges I wanted to address, but I didn’t stay long enough.

I started in January 2011 until December 2013.

I identified three things: human resources development, infrastructure development, and equipment acquisition.

All three would have helped to make it a professional force.

Did you ever imagine your wife would become president?

I never dreamed of that.

And she never dreamed she would one day be president.

This was brought about by people in the political sphere, because it’s a question of getting to the bodies for elections.

Even in 2017, when she became vice president, we had no idea that’s where she would end.

But people will always dictate. People will always throw about their feelings, and say “don’t stop here, why don’t you go further?”.

In 2022, there was another congress. Swapo threw her, the prime minister, and the ambassador at the people.
So the people had to decide.

She was victorious at that congress and confirmed as Swapo vice president again. That was not enough.

National elections would decide who would be the president of this country. And then, in November, we went to the national polls.

The decision by the people was to go for Netumbo.

You may have the aspiration to become president, but sometimes people drive you to say what you want to become.

And she ended up as president-elect, not by appointment, but through elections.

What is the role of the military in Namibia’s politics?

Globally, the military is the same.

The military by design is an instrument of the state. Our constitution is very clear: The role of the Namibian Constitution is to defend the territorial integrity and national interests of Namibia. Those are key – to defend national integrity and national interests.

Defending the nation, according to the Constitution, there must be structures.

That’s why we have structures in the defence force. We are an instrument at the disposal of the government.

Should there be threats, we must stand ready. We don’t do things on our own. That’s why the head of the defence force, the commander-in-chief, is the president. And then, cascading down from the commander-in-chief, you get the chief of the defence force.

The chief of the defence force is the immediate commander of the forces, reporting to the commander, to the army.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I’m a very simple person. I like reading. I’m a soccer fan, and loving soccer is when your team is playing.

If your team is not playing, you don’t realise there’s a soccer team playing.

I used to be a soccer player myself. I also like volleyball. I also used to be a volleyball player.

I like rugby, but I didn’t play rugby. Two of my sons played rugby. That’s what probably influenced me to like rugby.

But like I said, sometimes it’s about the team, not the sport.

I like watching the Springboks and the All Blacks of New Zealand. Those are the only teams I like watching.

Others can play, but I don’t recognise this rugby being played.

Since your retirement in 2013, what have you kept busy with?

I wanted to be free, because since my childhood I had no time to be on my own. I had to be with my father from an early age.
During the liberation struggle, I was under someone’s command and was told what to do.

There was no time to just be on my own.

Since I was a cattle herder, I wanted to farm, and not only be a weekend farmer. So, after I retired I spent much of my time at the farm, looking after our animals.

It was also a necessity, because we bought this farm through Agribank, and how would we pay them back if we were only weekend farmers?

While writing your two books, what perspectives did you develop on politics?

I wanted to add knowledge to academia. That was primary, because the world is not a global village.

I gave two or three different copies to the University of Namibia, the International University of Management, and the Namibia University of Science and Technology, as well as the Swarovski School.

That’s part of my philosophy – I don’t want this work to end with me only.

I donated them to the institutes, because they are institutions of higher learning.

I thought one day I would visit some of their libraries, to see whether I would find some of the sentences underlined here and there. That would give me an idea of whether the students got something from these books. So, my philosophy was to share knowledge with people out there.

These books were published in Germany, and they were classified as political science books.

As they are political science books, I strongly feel they need to be at institutions of higher learning for our students, our children, to understand the world around them.

What kind of food do you enjoy?

If I have food at all . . . Honestly, like I said earlier on, I don’t like eating. I used to like meat. Meat has been my most favourite food – beef and goat meat. But I’ve been discouraged from eating too much meat.

I eat more veggies now.

What kind of books do you like reading?

I have fallen in love with some authors, like Stephen Covey. He has written so many books. One of my favorite books is ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’.

When you read that book, you want to rush to buy the next book. I like it because it’s about leadership.

There is also Peter Drucker. Their books are their legacy. People are still talking about them.

What kind of music do you like listening to?

Country music, especially Donnie Williams. Don’t leave that out. Alan Jackson. Don’t leave that out. And Kenny Rogers, Jimmy Rivers, and Charlie Pryde.

I have also influenced my children to like country music.

When they travel, or when you see them, it’s all about Donnie Williams or about Alan Jackson.
They don’t know any other music.

One of my sons once asked why country music. My answer was because it’s from home.