Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
Simply uncommitted, unwilling, incompetent, un- and non-ideological, if not totally anti-ideological and a-ideological.
How else could one describe and define the inability of the current Swapo of Namibia government, which, despite being a government of the country, appears to be merely posturing, to facilitate and release land to the town of Usakos for necessary economic development?
Land which is being held back wilfully and deliberately, with such withholding being an economic sabotage in effect. Not only that, but the town is essentially holding the much-needed development at ransom. Transnamib is retaining the land needed for a development park in the town. Yours truly does not hold any ideological belief in the proposed industrial park. This is due to the industrial park’s inability and unwillingness to address the workers’ basic needs, as it primarily supports the economic system, which is fundamentally capitalist.
The extent to which such a park will, at the very least, transform the town’s socioeconomic landscape remains uncertain. One does not need to look further than many of the industrial parks that have sprung up since independence and have been mushrooming all over the country. Their effect in terms of the transformation of the economy has been insignificant, if not pedestrian at best. In fact some, if not most, have been and become no more than white elephants. This is not to say that Yours Truly Ideologically is oblivious to the important role that some of the parks, however superfluous, may have played. Whether strict or not, parks play a crucial role in providing a space that enables ordinary people, particularly their families, to meet their basic needs.
These parks not only create the illusion of self-sustenance but also artificially lower the high unemployment figures. But the majority of the unemployed in the country are the youth and it is not certain, at least to Yours. From an ideological perspective, the extent to which these parks have not only assisted the youth in sustaining themselves but also served as crucial stepping stones into the mainstream economy remains uncertain. Assuming this is the ultimate goal, albeit not the noblest. Granted one’s ideological disposition. Whether, on the one hand, giving the people a false sense of an opportunity and partaking in the economy of the capitalist dispensation, thereby entrenching the capitalist system, is the ideal. This, by itself, is not superior but rather a system of exploitation that is deeply ingrained in the capitalist system.
On the other hand, such parks are necessary evils and springboards toward radical socio economic transformation. We are ushering in a time and a production system where everyone participates, not as a goal unto itself, but as a tool to achieve it. This end is the provision of basic needs for all citizens, regardless of their social class. Providence, not the profit motive, drives production.
Thus, in the final analysis, TransNamib’s refusal to avail the land that the town of Usakos needs cannot by any means be laid at its door but that of the reigning government. As a functionary and/or extension agency of the Ministry of Works and Transport, a government department, TransNamib cannot redefine itself beyond its role as an agency. More than anything, it is thus just an internal matter, procedural and otherwise, for the government to facilitate the land in question, either freely and/or at a nominal price. We acknowledge and value Usakos’ emerging economy, which stands in stark contrast to the economies of Windhoek.
Numerous towns in Namibia have faced significant economic and financial challenges, as evidenced by extensive documentation. Yours Truly Ideologically acknowledges that this is partially due to mismanagement and the misuse of resources. But not denying and ignoring this is underwritten by various factors, like lack of experience factored in turn by the calibre of the personnel in charge of such towns. Starting from top with the political councillors down to the administrative/managerial personnel.
However, the predicament the town finds itself in, where it must literally compete with TransNamib for land, reveals a profound lack of understanding and appreciation for the essential synergy that should exist among the various institutions that comprise government. TransNamib, the Ministry of Works, and the town council of Usakos embody this situation. The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development serves as the town council’s mother body in this regard. One cannot but wonder to what extent the two ministries have been engaged on this matter, even if it needs to be discussed on the Cabinet level.
Be that as it may be, the matter is a pointer that somehow the left arm seems not to know what the right is doing. Which trickles down to lack of coordination and supervision. Not to mention arrogance on the part of those in charge of the state-owned corporation. Greed lurks within the corporation, with certain elements attempting to profit quickly from the sale of land at a high price.
Land is not solely a concern for local authorities. But many people are dispossessed of it and in need of restorative justice. However, the government’s lack of political will, coupled with the reluctance and arrogance of the illegal owners of the dispossessed land, who have been holding the government to ransom by demanding exorbitant prices for land, is also a contributing factor. But the basic question is, if the government is unable to acquire land in its own possession, how can it get it into private ownership?
