Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro
YOURS Truly Ideologically has not been closely observing the happenings on the local political front just and only lately but has been fond, patriotically so been doing over the years .
Going back to the pre-revolution era. Till this day. At a loss how to term and define this era. Is it post-revolution, or are we still on the revolutionary journey and what revolution can we be talking about? With elections due in exactly two months today, this question becomes all not only all the more important and relevant but crucial.
Especially in view of the fact that what has been aspiring on this front not only leaves much to be desired but worrying and disturbing. Because with most of the election manifestos of the various political parties and formations out now, they are, to say the least, not worth the papers they are written on. Simply taking the voters for granted. Yours
Truly Ideologically have all along been of the view if election manifestos are worth anything at all. Firstly, given the level of illiteracy in the country and whether voters have ever been reading these manifestos at all.
One cannot tell if there has been any studies to determine and gauge of what use manifestos have been to the voters, if any, and whether they have ever been able to inform voters and resultantly sway voters’ allegiances rather than the voters continuing to voter on old blind allegiances and loyalties.
Promises and promises but no delivery have been the reality. Promises for that matter that is not based on real socio-economic transformation. Worse which are not based on any ideological conviction, or if you wish on any pragmatism. Despite 34 years of statehood, Yours Truly ideologically, cannot otherwise but observe that the country’s electoral-democratic and or political landscape is till replete, and /or caught into the mediocre and mundane if not frivolous mumbo jumbo, which are reflected in most of the manifestos with few exceptions if any.
Where and when voters are promised many goodies bordering on fantasies by the politicians. Worse promises in which few if any of them have any iota of conviction in.
Simply because few if any of the manifestos and what they espouses, the politicians or their advocates have any sligghtes of conviction in. In reality politicians most of the time preaches and promises things that they do not believe in.
Whether in their feasibility let alone in terms of their ideological basis, for those who may want to think they are in one way or another ideologically inclined. Time and again voters have been bombarded with political rethoric, decorated by the so-called election manifestos, with the election manifestos of the various political parties differing very little except in the rhetoric of their advocates.
With such being retrieved from the sheleves where they have been gathering dust since the last election, dusted and presented to the unsuspecting if not indifferent voters.
The clarion call of most of the political parties have been to the youth. Not surprisingly given in terms of the Namibian demographic that the youth are in the majority. Forgetting despite this fact, most of the youth remain unemployed.
Not only this but while most political parties have been appealing to the youth, even within their leadership structures, the presence of the youth has been insignificant both in terms of numbers, and effect, if not completely conspicuous in their absence.
Only to see lately closer to the elections some parties steamrolling them into some presumed presence and visibility, while in yet other political parties , as much as they have been present within any leadership structures, their presence have been little more than tokenism. Given the sheer lack of ideological conviction among most if not all political parties, it has been and concinute to be baffling to Yours Truly Ideologically, why the youth have been called upon to register, and eventually vote. Vote for what if all of the political parties, and there has been hardly any exception,, are and seem to be all chips from the same old block, the capitalist block.
With those pretending otherwise being no more than their usual pretentious self. Being ideologically inclined only during election time but when the election are done and dusted and won ideology, and as much the election and manifestos promises and fantasies thrown out of the window.
It boggles the mind how the youth seem to allow itself not only to be taken for a ride but hoodwinked. The sad and unfortunate phenomenon is how the youth seem to have remained all the time ideologically either ignorant, indifferent if not totally non-ideological if not anti-ideological and agonistically unideological.
Subsequently being consumed by capitalist decadence and opulence instead of providing the compass in this regard. IIs the current situation in which hundreds of their fellows, most, for that matter, the youth.
In the final analysis, whatever the country maybe trapped into currently socio-economically, cannot be the making of the old guard well beyond its expiry date, but the youth for allowing the has-been and never-to—be generation to gamble if not sabotage their future. The youth is and cannot be the next generation but he now generation as much as its future is not in the future but stars from now.
As much as their presence within the current structures of most of the political parties led by political geriatrics, they still have their conscious, conscientiousness and as much their energy to start making the difference. Not based on empty promises and political fantasies based at worse on pragmatism and at best ideological conviction. If the Namibian revolution which at the moment has been derailed and headed for no where if not already on the precipice is to be arrested and reversed back on track. Starting with the November elections.
