It was 06H00 on 21 March 1990, the first day of Namibian Independence. The sun was shining brightly over Windhoek and the anthem “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” was playing. I was standing in the parking lot of the Academy of Tertiary Education (now where the Polytechnic of Namibia is), and slowly raising the Namibian flag for the first time over the capital. What a memory, what an honour.
Till today, whenever I see the National Flag being raised or lowered, I stand still and take a few moments to consider the promise of a new country and its opportunities as promised on the 21st of March 1990.
Looking back, I must wonder how many of the children born today will benefit from the “fruits of our freedom”?
I can categorically state that most of my generation have benefited greatly BUT must also admit that the young generation of today have been done in.
Recently, I was fortunate to talk to one of my mentors and idols, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, and was once again humbled when he indicated his pleasure in hearing that I am teaching some of the knowledge I have acquired to the young generation of today. (I used to sometimes look down on the "teaching profession" of Namibia - now no more!)
So my challenge to you all of us:
What have you done lately to give back to your community?
Viva Namibia, Viva Responsibility!
In this Chapter, I look at the Legislative and Judicial branches of the Namibian State and give my opinions of some of the changes we might make.
Namibia as a country is governed by laws. Our constitution is still seen as a model for creating peace and stability. The policy of reconciliation and the principle of equality before the law is something we have to be proud of.
The law is thus also the way in which we determine the future of our country. Because we are looking for an African solution to our problems it is perhaps also interesting to look at law from a traditional African perspective. In a recent article I read it was noted that there are two broad categories within traditional law, namely Natural Law and People’s Law.
“Natural Law describes the way things are in the natural world; People’s law governs the action of people. Natural laws just exist, and are themselves evolving. Movement towards balance and diversity are examples of natural laws. Communities living close to the land simply experienced them, and passed knowledge of their workings through the generations in song, myths and dance.
People’s law is decided in a political process.
The law of technology is less well-known. These laws inform human interactions with nature. The law of technology is about transformation, and is closely tied to the use of fire and everything that derives from it.
.. Western man desired the progress of technology without the context of responsibility. Unlike the classic Western divide between science and church, technology and its moral context, traditional Africa never separated these things.
.. In African terms, man once was governed by natural law; in becoming human, he created people’s law, but his growing dependence on technology caused him to lose his intuitive grasp of natural limits.”4
Problems with lawmaking
The time it takes to get a bill through our governments and then parliamentary system is too long. Let’s take a look at the Information and Telecommunications Bill.
The first consultative process started in 1999 with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication (MWTC), and the Namibian Communications Commission (NCC). MIB was the line Ministry for Radio and television, MWTC was responsible for Telecommunications and NCC is the regulating authority.
The Bill was discussed in various public forum and the private sector and business organisations were invited to comment. The state-owned enterprises that were regulated by the old Act(s) were however not happy with the proposed changes, and specifically the allowing of competition. This held the Bill up for over 7 years.
The Ministry of Information again called a consultative meeting in 2006 to complete the process and have a document for submission to Parliament. After the submission by the stakeholders the Bill was once again distributed for comment. By July 2007, the Cabinet of Namibia instructed the Ministry of Justice to complete the Bill and “submit it to Parliament by 12 September 2007.
In the early part of 2008, the Communications Department was moved to the renamed Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies. This meant that all the various parties’ interests were now housed in one Ministry. The newly appointed Minister promised the Bill would be tabled within the year.
The Bill was submitted to Parliament in June 2009. However, the Minister included a rather controversial clause (dubbed the “Spy Clause”), that included interception centres. The Bill has been accepted in October 2009 even though there was a huge public outcry over certain of these interception regulations.
Thus ten years passed without this crucial legislation which regulates broadcasting, telecommunications and postal services. Now, we have to wait for the laws on Electronic Transaction and Privacy Protection. These are already in the pipeline since 2005.
As a nation we must understand and respect the institutions which propose debate and make our laws. Too many times I have heard people say “these politicians – they are only in it for what they can get”. The Parliament has as its duty the education of the citizens in how we can make use of them to improve our daily lives. Essentially, I would like to see private citizens being able to propose laws to their representatives and have these submitted in Parliament. Unfortunately most of us accept that our laws are submitted by bureaucrats (government employees) working under the orders of the Minster involved. Thus in fact not separating the executive from the legislature, but rather having the parliament become a rubber stamp for decisions made by the ruling party and its ministers.
We also have to recognise that being a Member of Parliament is a way for an individual to contribute his or her experience for the improvement of our country, rather than a career path. In recent times we have seen young people become members of parliament only to be caught up in acts which bring disrepute to the institution. This can only be corrected if members of parliament have reached a certain amount of material independence to allow them to vote for what they think is right, and not what will ensure their present income.
I propose the Parliament Administration create a school for potential parliamentarians. This can be done during the recess periods and will allow interested persons to gain first-hand experience on what would be expected from them if they enter the Parliament.
Financing of Political Parties
The political parties in Namibia play a very important role in our democracy. Most parties have difficulty in financing their activities and Government has since 1997 been funding parties represented in the National Assembly.
A study was done in 2004 entitled “The life of the Party: Hidden Role of Money in Namibian Politics” by Martin Boer of IPPR.
He recommends:
•Government should draft a white paper or even an Act laying out specific rules and guidelines surrounding political party financing.
•The Auditor-General should be given wider power to be able to enforce the requirement that political parties must submit audited accounts.
The study concludes by pointing to two problems Namibia needs to resolve: making parties more transparent and accountable, and finding a way for opposition parties to receive a larger amount of state funding.
It ends with “…Political parties themselves should be more proactive in their efforts to seek funds and to find alternative sources of income beyond the Government. Finally, members of political parties, at the very least, should be pushed to pay their dues, volunteer and to help raise money for the party. Democracy by its very nature requires the support of its citizens. It would not be fair to lay the burden of democracy on only the Government itself.”
I concur wholeheartedly. Even though SWAPO does get the majority of the votes, it is of cardinal importance that we support a healthy opposition in the country.
This question came up recently in a discussion that was proposing a "Workers Party" for Namibia after the last election.
I had to think about it for a while, especially as I am a SWAPO member.
But then inspiration struck, if we want to tackle a political problem, why not look at how this has been done by consumer activists (such as Ralp Nader in the USA). The most common denominator for people is their consumer experience in a society. Nader considered launching a third party around issues of citizen empowerment and consumer rights. He suggested a serious third party could address needs such as campaign-finance reform, worker and whistle-blower rights, government-sanctioned watchdog groups to oversee banks and insurance agencies.
I suggest that should a "third-party" emerge it would only be viable if it had a coherent political platform that is not catered for in the existing parties.
What should this platform be based on?
Four things, namely the peace movement, the civil rights movement, the environmental movement, and the labour movement. (Often referred to as the "green movement".)
This is a political platform I could follow!
The Namibian Constitution guarantees the independence of the judiciary. Article 78 (3) states “No member of the Cabinet or the Legislature or any other person shall interfere with Judges or judicial officers in the exercise of their judicial functions, and all organs of the State shall accord such assistance as the Courts may require to protect their independence, dignity and effectiveness, subject to the terms of this Constitution or any other law.”
For me “judicial independence” means I may (and will) not interfere in the exercise of the functions of Judges. However, I feel it necessary to look at the administrative support supplied by the Executive. In his address to a Magistrates’ Symposium in 2004, Chief Justice Peter Shivute asserts that, in order to ensure its independence, the judiciary needs to “… exercise control over its financial and administrative operations so as to exclude the possibility of the organ of the state that holds the purse [strings] from exerting financial and administrative pressure on the judiciary …”5
The judiciary is dependent on the Ministry of Justice for its financing and it must rely on the budget allocation as determined by the Ministry of Finance. Through these allocations, the Ministries control the number of positions that will be created (or maintained) in the judiciary. In fact, the United Nations African Governance Report of 2005 states: “The judiciary in many African countries does not have operational independence because the executive determines the appointment, promotion and remuneration of judicial officers. The prospects of career mobility for judges therefore depend largely on how well they can court and patronize the executive. In most cases the budget and funds of the judiciary are controlled by the Ministry of Justice (an executive arm of government), which creates bureaucratic procedures in financial matters and the possibility of discriminatory funding to be used against the “erring” courts.”6
One glaring example of the influence of the administration of the judiciary is the transcription services. This is given out by tender through the Ministry of Justice, and this service still only provides written copies without computerised records being kept. Furthermore, the delay in providing this service does add to the impression that “justice is delayed”.
I therefore propose that the administrative functions of the judiciary be done by a department that is headed by a Director-General appointed by the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia (acting on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission). This department shall submit its budget and reports to the National Assembly annually.
In addition, I also support the creation of “Tribal Courts” for matters that can be dealt with by the community leaders.
A “Small Claims Court” is a court of law where ordinary people can handle their own cases. It is not necessary to have a lawyer (and their costs) as the forms are meant to be a kind of “do-it-yourself” where you fill in the blanks. The court has less formal and less complicated rules and procedures than the Supreme Court.
I propose a small claims court be established where parties can settle their differences in cases up to the value of N$ 20,000. This can, and should, become part of a Consumer Protection Act.
The most often used expression in regards to our citizens must be “they know their rights but not their responsibilities”. Whenever I hear such evident truths I always investigate it a little bit further. So, what is the responsibility of each and every citizen of our country?
This is a little bit harder to explain. I would often say “your rights end where mine begin”. In other words, your responsibility is to ensure no intentional harm to others. This is what is referred to as “Common Law”. They exist from Roman times and are a way in which we hold an individual responsible for their own actions, which started when we understood the notion of intent and personal culpability.7
Now that I have found an explanation for what is termed “Common Law”, I have to leave my argument that we should create a school subject on that matter alone. Instead, I propose we ensure each pupil be conversant not only with the Namibian Constitution, but also specifically of the areas of law covered for example in the Magistrates Courts Act. This subject of “Citizens Knowledge” should be taught to all students (probably throughout their school career) and include those elements that would allow the court to authoritatively state “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. This should positively impact on increasing the awareness of the citizen of not only their rights, but also their responsibilities.
It is quite common to hear politicians admonishing the white communities for not participating in national events. I am not a history buff, but have recently been talking about my student politics days and placed a few photos from this period.
It got me thinking about the participation of young people (white, coloured or black) and the following struck me in an article, "..But maybe memory is what young people need to be taught before they can be taught actual history."
So, I have started a small project to ensure that our common memory becomes available to our youth through the Wikipedia website. This site covers almost all areas of knowledge, but I found very little written about Namibia. While doing this I found that there were no templates on the languages or cultural identities of many of our peoples. I have started the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured_People_in_Namibia and hope to assist in developing similar sites about our common memories.
At the end of the project, I hope to create an SMS novella about certain historical events and people in Namibia.
We Remember: Before, Now, and Later
“Those who control the past, control the future.” (George Orwell, 1984)
How do representations of the past affect our understanding of it? How are historical representations incorporated into collective memory? To what degree are ideas of national identity embedded in collective memory, and what role do museums and social online media play in the creation of this collective memory?
Too many times, leaders and nations have dwelled in the past, which has handicapped the immense potential of the present, instead of using knowledge of the past advantageously towards the future.
In conclusion, history has proved that it cannot disappear. Wars can never disappear. Poverty can never disappear. Sickness can never disappear. Corruption can never disappear. Yet our connected history has produced success, happiness, growth, and prosperity. History has shown contrasts, and Namibia, the country we are so fortunate to live in, advocates the diversity of every individual. In the words of Shakespeare, “What is past is prologue.” Indeed, the future of mankind will build upon what it has already established. As time progresses, the common public memory of the past will continue to fuse and intertwine all nations’ destinies together based on what each individual accomplishes now, in the present.8
Now is the time to look at what is our common memory - and include all sides of the wars as part and parcel of one nation. And learn to use our differences to map a path for the future.
I wish to end this chapter using words from the poem “I believe in You” by Kahlil Gibran. He was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of the Ottoman Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career.
•It is to acknowledge the other person's rights before asserting your own, but always to be conscious of your own.
•It is to be free in thought and deed, but it is to know that your freedom is subject to the other person's freedom.
•It is to create the useful and the beautiful with your own hands, and to admire what others have created in love and with faith.
•It is to produce wealth by labour and only by labour, and to spend less than you have produced that your children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more.