Namibia is slowly becoming a failed state – Kavekotora
By Clifton Movirongo.
RDP party leader, Mike Kavekotora recently said Namibia is a “failed state”, wherein public resources have mainly benefited powerful politicians and their cronies while the majority continues to languish in poverty.
The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) leader said this about the fragility of the nation in a statement availed to the Namibia Economist recently.
It forms part of a series of engagements with various influential Namibians – in different sectors – on their take on how far the country has come, 31 years after its political independence.
The politician also reflected on the President, HE Dr. Hage Geingob’s Independence Day commemoration speech delivered in March and the general state of the country’s affairs.
His comments come at time when the local economy is in a precarious state, with the government seemingly struggling to make ends meet.
Kavekotora also indicated that he is pleased that the Head of State has continuously admitted some cardinal challenges facing present-day Namibia, albeit with reservations.
“[Geingob] shied away from mentioning corruption, lack of decent housing, unemployment, lack of potable water and the scarcity of land as challenges facing the nation since Independence and where the government failed in material terms to address them,” Kavekotora asserted.
He is also adamant that most Namibians would disagree with Geingob’s assessment that the Namibia of today is better than that of yesteryear.
“That statement is true of the politically well-connected who were economically emancipated. But the man in the street, who lives [with a] wide gap between rich and poor, will see it as a fallacy and an insult,” he added.
Kavekotora further took issue with Geingob’s mantra on the need for strong governance systems, processes and institutions.
“He cannot [claim] to see effectiveness in the Anti-Corruption Commission, not in the Electoral Commission of Namibia; not in the Judiciary; not in the police; not in the Executive; not in local governments and surely not in the Presidency,” he charged.
The RDP leader said that Namibia’s challenges can only be addressed through an honest and transparent leadership.
“The president must get serious and acknowledge he is presiding over a divided nation. He must admit that there is no equity in wealth distribution. He must admit that he and his predecessor failed in addressing corruption and admit that fighting poverty through social grants is not sustainable,” Kavekotora advised.
