Kae Matundu
Many, if not most, of the political parties and/or formations aspiring to form the next government of the Republic of Namibia after the 27 November Presidential and National Assembly elections have now presented their manifestos.
These manifestos encapsulate the aspirations of those who have embraced them. For all intents and purposes, the contents of these manifestos and those of some others amount to nothing more than hollow promises that border on fantasy. With political analysts, the very ones who have been insisting on these manifestos, reducing some, if not all of them, to nothing but mere political hallucinations.
Yours Truly Ideologically has been having reservations regarding the essence and practicalities, if any at all, of these manifestos. Given that the majority of the voters, besides the difficulties of accessing such manifestos, compounded by the rate of literacy, would ever bother to go through them and subsequently base their voting choices on the contents of these manifestos.
Given the fairy tale nature of some of these manifestos, if not most, no voter would ordinarily be expected, unless those believing in fairytales, to vote for one or the other political party and/or formation based on what any manifesto may proffer. Some manifestos, in fact, replicate the pledges from the previous 2019 elections or even from the initial democratic elections in Namibia overseen by the UN.
Be that as it may, these manifestos promise an alternative to the status quo. But what status quo? We are informed by the various political parties and/or formations that, among others, the pertaining socio-economic problems are bedevilling Namibia. These ills, which include poverty and inequality but are not limited to them, bring many citizens’ lives to the brink of nonexistence. Socio-economic ills that in turn have been and are factored by the misappropriation, misuse and mismanagement of national resources, encompassing, in a nutshell, corruption.
Yours Truly Ideologically would not wish to deny the impact of the mismanagement of national resources and what-have-you on the socio-economic wellbeing of the citizenry. However, these actions take place within a specific framework.
It has never been clear and still it is not clear from most of the manifestos and/or political programs of the parties and formations what the fundamentals are, which are the main drivers of unending and recurrent socio-economic ills. Poverty and inequality, by themselves, cannot explain the status quo.
The misallocation, misappropriation, and mismanagement of national resources are also inextricably linked. But derivatives of a given production system exist. There’s no denial that this production system in Namibia is capitalism. Thus, the socio-economic ills in Namibia cannot be delinked and disassociated from the capitalist system.
Be it a part thereof or wholly. The prevailing production system, capitalism, is the root cause of the socio-economic ills Namibia is experiencing, subjecting and subjugating the majority of its ordinary citizens.
Ironically, as fundamental as these may be, this is something that most political parties and/or formations are and have been ignoring, wilfully and/or deliberately, for lack of ideological disposition and/or belief. If the root cause of what they are bidding to rectify and/or change is the very capitalist production system in the country, it is baffling what improvements they would wrought about if capitalism remains intact and entrenched as is and has been.
Promises to bring changes within a production system, which is the root cause of the problem, are not only contradictory, but also deceive voters. Regardless of whether any political parties or formations espouse or adhere to fundamental radical transformation ideals, these promises remain contradictory and deceitful. This is due to the infeasibility of realizing such ideals within the current production system, which is detrimental to the interests of those being exploited. With exploitation as opposed to growth, as its advocates would maintain and try to make Namibian voters believe, being the raison d’être of capitalism.
“The historic phenomenon of capitalism… has deeply imprinted itself upon Namibian society. Yet, what we witness is not the promised prosperity of capitalism but a legacy of exploitation and dispossession, perpetuated by an alliance between the ruling regime, capital, and transnational elites,” messages the Leader and Chief Campaigner of the Landless Peoples Movement (LPM), Bernadus Swartbooi, in the organisation’s manifesto.
Based on his message, it appears that he is among the few political leaders who possess a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms and mechanization of capitalism as the primary cause of socio-economic problems in Namibia. Determining the ultimate goal for him and his party, and whether they can achieve such an understanding, is a different story. But the disposition towards understanding surely must give hope towards the beginning of a paradigm shift and the bombardment of the voters with empty promises.
The promises lack a genuine understanding and/or analysis of the underlying problems at hand.
“The state has therefore the political responsibility of economic growth and redistribution, and thereby, the eradication of entrenched poverty and inequality. The state, therefore, must not be a passive overseer but an active, interventionist institution—a developmental state. It must embody a transformative and emancipatory role because true socio-economic liberation is contingent upon a state apparatus that actively intervenes to redirect economic resources in favor of the oppressed, marginalized, and underprivileged forces of society.
The private sector must be reimagined not as a dominant force but as a strategic actor in the service of socio-economic objectives.”
Inherent in this message, which is fundamental, unheard, and a rarity among Namibian politicians, the LPM leader is depositing the socio-economic ills of Namibia in a certain context. This being the capitalist production system.
For most of the political manifestos and/or most of the politicians, when promising change, as they are currently doing, they are and have been at best only flippant and superfluous without looking, let alone endeavouring and striving to establish what the genesis of the socio-economic may be. People have been quick to place blame on the Swapo Party of Namibia and its potential corrupt members and leaders. As if given a corrupt-free Namibia, necessarily there would be no poverty, inequality, and many other socio-economic ills.
