The speed and momentum with which events are unfolding in Namibia, particularly the ruling party, Swapo ahead of the November 28 election, makes fertile imagination for President-in waiting, Hage Geingobs inheritance of the presidency and the rich connotative implications it comes with. This afternoon, the Namibian police and City of Windhoek Police were expected to evict Job Amupanda, the Swapo Youth Leagues Secretary for Information, Publicity and Mobilisation, from a Klein Kuppe plot he had occupied over the weekend with a group of landless youth. Amupandas was not a protest, such as the occupy movement that has become synonymous with resistance across the globe, but a land grab. We are all agitated. This goes to show what is happening (within the City Council) is not supported by all of us in Swapo. We are part of Swapo and our actions condone the actions of the councillors. They move from auctioning land, to giving each other land on preferential treatment, take time to avail land to the landless and disadvantaged, but quick to give ‘Mr William when he comes knocking, said the youth leagues secretary for economics, Immanuel Nashinge, from a rally in Otjiwarongo. The Windhoek City Council is expected to call a press conference this week to clarify matters as its popularity continues to wane, and Oshili24 understands that the council spokesperson, Joshua Amukugo was advised to delay last weeks media briefing until the ruling party has pronounced its position. The ruling party, Oshili24 was told, is against Amupandas move, but fear denouncing him in public as it would seem they are supporting the alleged corrupt practises within the ruling party. Said Swapo Secretary General Nangolo Mbumba today, I dont want to answer on what the youth league does. Call them to get answers. We will take steps and necessary measures on anyone who is not following the guidelines set by Swapo. Certain actions not sanctioned by the party cannot be seen to be done by our representatives. Such is the confusion incoming President Hage Geingob is likely to deal with from day one. Today Namibia faces a future of political division between supporters of the revolutionary gains of independence and the youth who question what gains if the land is not with us. Swapo has not fared too badly in wrestling power from colonial minorities, but the party cannot honestly boast of having succeeded as much in handing over that power to the majority. The opposite of a revolution is a counter-revolution, that , quick and sudden changes which wrest power from the majority and hand it over to a minority with the aim of attaining the selfish goals of a few. Nashinge says what is happening in the party (land grab, corruption of top officials) will not sway votes from Swapo, as most people have made up their minds, and thanks to a weak opposition, some which is gaining small grounds due to tender monies. It is no secret of the two evils Hage Geingob prefers Amupandas boss Elijah Ngurare to the former, and this week, with an election on the doorstep, the Julius Malema protégé might have scored his own against his superiors by grabbing land. Hage has never been a fan of Job, following some of the youth leaders militancy style which follows the party of run-away ANC leader Julius Malema, such as attacking journalists, denouncing his own elders etcetera. SPYL boss Elijah Ngurare today tried to cool down tempers appealing to all Namibian youth never to take the law in their own hands, no matter the circumstances... but the damage has already been done. City officials have been watching opposition party RDP for much of last week, as they planned to occupy areas of leafy suburb Eros in the capital with Mbashus (shacks). Whether Hage likes Job or not, Swapo could now fear that the actions by its youth league could trigger a wave of illegal land occupations. Land reclamation is best executed by the masses, as demonstrated in Zimbabwe, and not by some land specialists or experts from the worlds renowned universities. Our own independence was a result of a mass uprising, not some sophisticated work of highly learned specialist. The emerging voice of emancipation that gave Julius Malemas six months old EFF party a sound one million votes in the 2014 election, translating to a decent 25 parliamentary seats, should not be ignored. On Tuesday, Windhoek Mayor Agnes Kafula is expected to address a rally in Otjikoto region, a move which might come to haunt the party in future considering her waning popularity. Kafula, once a party outsider, is currently Swapos number 1 ranked woman on the party list, and the party is compelled to use her. It is still to be established whether some former female heavyweights in the party could be after Kafula, by exposing her dirty laundry in public. One theory beginning to hold water is the fact that besides going to parliament next year, the current director in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration and Mayor of Windhoek, could wake up as boss to her current boss, former Secretary General Pendukeni Ivula-Ithana who is also current Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration. Kafula has already been tipped of a ministerial post along those lines. But this is more than just tarnishing Kafulas image; it is about Swapos failure to address the land question. Even out-going President Hifikepunye Pohamba, a former Lands minister himself, has failed on that. Nearly 5 000 people have benefited from the countrys Land Acquisition and Redistribution Programme, which has led to 2,3 million hectares of land being acquired by the State thus far. Ministry of Lands and Resettlement director of land reform, Knox Imbuwa, says only 2,3 million of the targeted 5 million hectares have been acquired by the government in 24 years ago. This target should be reached by 2020. Less than 5000 people have been resettled over the past 13 years. Imbuwa said that the challenges faced by the programme include the slow process of land acquisition and escalating land prices. Windhoek is 34,73% more expensive than Cape Town, according to a Cost of Living Index 2014 released by Numbeo, a database on living conditions around the world. Rent in Windhoek is 20,90% higher. Reading from the scripts of recent events, Swapo has not given solutions to the prize hikes in housing, and Amupandas billing is rising, considering. Said Amupanda recently, We are so scared of the white people that we do not want to bring in black economic empowerment, yet 95 percent of our economy is still in white peoples hands, who send their children to schools overseas, have access to private healthcare, do not buy Namibian products and live in property surrounded by tall walls. Not all is lost; the SPYL is busy changing the direction of the wheel. Thus, 24 years after independence, Namibia is still ruled and owned by the descendants of the German and white South African colonisers. A few thousand white Namibians living large, while the majority black population hews wood, draws water, lives mostly in townships and under the poverty line, and remains mostly unemployed. White Namibians are Namibians, too, of course, but when the wealth gap is so obviously based on race as a result of the countrys history, the ruling party should not be seen failing to address some faster redistribution of the countrys wealth. At the current rate it might not take generations to make much of a difference, let alone equitable. A timebomb waiting to explode, as it did in Zimbabwe.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 14:50:47 +0000
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