Namibia's Swapo: Forfeiting the ‘moral high ground’

KHADIJA SHARIFE: What is your opinion on the changes made to the Regional Councils Act allowing the president to appoint regional governors?

HENNING MELBER: The new law, which empowers the president to appoint local 'governors' (who, strictly speaking, are not governors, but are rather the elected executive members of the regional councillors) is in breach of the original constitutional provision.

This stipulates that these 'governors' are elected by and from the group of regional councillors, who in turn were elected by the voters. This would allow for a truly regional representation. The 'governor' is acting in direct responsibility to the appointing president and can come from any region or political party. He or she is therefore no longer necessarily a representative of the factual political situation on the ground in the region, but is de facto a representative of the head of state.

This is toxic for democracy and is another step towards a kind of ‘democratic centralism’ that has as much to do with democracy as torture does with human rights.

KHADIJA SHARIFE: Is it true that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has yet to remove dead people from voter roles, while some people in Ovambi, the Swapo stronghold, allegedly have multiple IDs and voters’ cards?

HENNING MELBER: It was indeed documented by referring to subsequent voters roles that they were invalid. They had listed persons known to be dead, Among these were some who were very prominent, whose funerals had been widely covered in the local media. Multiple voters’ cards also were identified. It is difficult to judge if this is sheer incompetence, or if this ‘incompetence’ is part of a system. I am reluctant to reach a conclusion. It is striking, however, how long this problem has dragged on, despite numerous previous initiatives to correct it. This seems to suggest that the ECN has no sense of urgency in addressing the situation.

KHADIJA SHARIFE: Has Swapo ever initiated a transparent commission into accountability within the party for actions committed during the liberation struggle?

HENNING MELBER: The only thing genuine about Swapo in this context is the arrogance of power, claiming that a liberation struggle requires sacrifices. If known then, the leadership would most likely have used the term 'collateral damage'. Swapo never, ever was willing to deal with the matter. This is one of the reasons why I claim that Swapo have forfeited the moral high ground we occupied during the struggle against apartheid. If we are willing to close our eyes when it comes to human rights violations in our own ranks, we are no better than those we accuse of human rights violations.

KHADIJA SHARIFE: Like South Africa, Namibia is governed by a one-party system functioning largely through a system of patronage. Could you deconstruct this issue for us?

HENNING MELBER: It's pretty obvious that the 'patriotic history' of a liberation movement as government produces similar characteristics of dominant party rule in both countries. In contrast to South Africa, Swapo has been seen even more so as the only recognised and legitimate 'liberator', now ‘cashing in’ in both senses of the term. The new rulers have been pursuing a [class conflict] and were co-opted into the existing socio-economic structures on the basis of the political and administrative powers seized. Two decades into independence, they still claim that they deserve popular support because they were the liberators and freed the country from apartheid and settler colonialism. But the fundamental socio-economic structures continue to reproduce the same features, just in a less racially biased version.

KHADIJA SHARIFE: Does Namibia have a similar black economic empowerment (BEE) system to South Africa's?

HENNING MELBER: Exactly the same. The difference might be that South Africa is a much more differentiated and industrialised society, which allows for more access and more diversified manipulation. In Namibia, it is almost exclusively a system of rent-seeking through the proclaimed 'Namibianisation' of resources. This translates into privatisation with some local beneficiaries sharing crumbs of the cake with the same or similar external actors than before.

These might now be coming more from other countries like China than in the old days, when it was only ‘Western imperialism’ reigning. But the exchange patterns have not fundamentally shifted, only that a rent-seeking new elite can now cash in on its positions in the political and administrative offices and structures. Self-enrichment through privileged access to state tenders and other forms of appropriating public funds is a popular means of achieving this.

KHADIJA SHARIFE: What tensions exist within Swapo between different factions vying for power, if any?

HENNING MELBER: There are massive conflicts and power struggles. Currently, at least three factions are seeking to position their candidate for the succession race, both with regard to the party presidency and, by implication, the succession to President Hifikepunye Pohamba as head of state. Pendukeni Ithana, secretary general of the party, Hage Geingob, vice president of Swapo, and Nahas Angula, currently prime minister - all from the old guard - are in the race. Former President Sam Nujoma's son Uutoni, now foreign minister, also features in some of the speculations. So do a few more. It is pretty messy and difficult to assess, but we will observe a lot behind the facade over the next two years. Tensions are massive, as far as one is able to read the signs.

KHADIJA SHARIFE: What is the reality of poverty and income inequality in Namibia today and could you contrast this to the state of Namibia's political economy two decades ago?

HENNING MELBER: Namibia remains among the countries with the highest income discrepancies in the world. Statistically a middle-income country, it has more than a 50% unemployment rate and massive poverty. The colonial economy has not been fundamentally transformed. The self-enrichment strategy of the new elite sacrificed any redistribution of wealth on a national scale in favour of the majority for their own luxury and privileges. We have a pact among elites, old and new, but no true emancipation from colonial rule. The real scandal is that we once again sold out the ordinary people for the benefit of a few.

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* Henning Melber is a Namibian analyst. He is currently the executive director of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and research fellow with the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria.
* Khadija Sharife is the southern Africa correspondent for The Africa Report magazine and a visiting scholar at the The Africa Report.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.