Job Shipululo Amupanda, a Senior Lecturer (political science) at the University of Namibia and a Decolonial Scholar and Activist with the Affirmative Repositioning movement

Why is it that people remember Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, long after he was overthrown and long after his body decomposed in the swallowing soil of Nkroful, his home village? To date, Ghana had more than 10 Heads of States since 1957. How remembers, let alone heard of, Hilla Limann who was President of Ghana from 1979 to 1981? Limann was an accidental leader who assumed presidency by chance. They are either usually supported by strong leaders without whom their rise would be limited to the realm of speculations. By 1979, Limaan was largely unknown even in Ghana. He came to power following a coup led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. Rawlings allowed him to assumed power and again removed him by a coup in 1981. He could be installed and removed because he was an accidental president. Limaan is not one of the men that are remembered fondly and favorably by the pens of history. Indeed, history does not remember one merely because he/she was a former President or Head of State? Those who disagree must tell us who fondly and favourably remembers President Hifikepunye Pohamba, an accidental second president of Namibia who is currently involved in local gossips relating to Helao Nafidi town council? If memory politics, photos and neo-patrimonialism are confused as fond remembrance of Pohamba the question must be changed; what ideas did Pohamba represent and left behind as his legacy? University of Namibia academic Rui Tyitende attempted to answer this question on 20 March 2015 – a day before Pohamba left office;

what is the legacy he leaves behind? What will he be remembered for? Let us be frank… He was more of a village headman…at the same time, he was outstandingly and perpetually indecisive when it came to burning issues that affect the citizenry. He started acting more like a President in the last year than during his entire nine years occupying the highest office. 

Unlike Limaan and Pohamba – the accidental presidents - we remember Kwame Nkrumah not because he was president but because of the ideas he has left behind. Indeed, it is in the arena of ideas and literature that Nkrumah sets himself apart. He is the only president in Africa who has published significant ideas that still guide society today or cause the struggling masses of the African people to fight on. There is no African president, since Nkrumah, whose books are required reading at many universities in Africa.

Nkrumah’s writings still assist us in understanding political behaviour in post-colonial Africa including Namibia. In 1964, Nkrumah published a philosophical text titled ‘Consciencism’ where in deals with the philosophy and ideology for decolonization and development with particular reference to the African revolution. In this text Nkrumah submits that:

the evaluation of one’s own social circumstances is part of the analysis of facts and events, and this kind of evaluation is, I feel, as good a starting point of the inquiry into the relations between philosophy and society as any other. Philosophy, in understanding human society, calls for an analysis of facts and events, and an attempt to see how they fit into human life, and so how they make up human experience. In this way, philosophy, like history can come enrich, indeed to define, the experience of man.

In our context, it would mean, therefore, in our analysis of the political society, the words and actions of the actors and the citizens cannot be looked at from a mere pedestrian observer perspective. Indeed, the events and facts of one’s social circumstances is a starting point of understanding the relationship between philosophy and society. At the practical level, when a politicians and state actors makes certain pronouncements the reaction of the thinking, particularly the public intellectuals, cannot be limited to mere consumption of news. We must, indeed, subject these to critical analysis to make meaning of such human experience. Frantz Fanon, in The Wretched of the Earth, understood the why there need to be a serious analysis of political actions particularly in a post-colonial context. He writes;

we have seen that nationalism, that magnificent song that made the people rise against their oppressors, stops short, falters and dies away on the day that independence is proclaimed. Nationalism is not a political doctrine, nor a programme. If you really wish your country to avoid regression, or at best halts and uncertainties, a step must be taken from national consciousness to political and social consciousness... a bourgeoisie that provides nationalism alone as food for the masses fails in its mission and gets caught up in a whole series of mishaps.

Observed closely, the Namibian political society fits very well in the above characterization by Fanon. Indeed, post-independence Namibia remains entangled in the heroism of nationalism and a national consciousness characterized by ‘chest-beating’ self-glorification. There has been no specific program by the ruling elites to bring about a trajectory from national consciousness to social and political consciousness. Such a move, it must be pointed out, is not in the interest of the ruling elites in general and the SWAPO regime in particular – that relies of national consciousness to hoard a plethora of rents for their patronage networks. Political scientist Henning Melber came to the same conclusion in his 2011 article ‘Namibia: a trust betrayed – again?’ published in volume 38 (127) of Review of African Political Economy. He writes: 

Liberation from colonial rule is perceived as a kind of ‘end of history’. It resulted in a political project devoid of any meaningful agenda for socio-economic change beyond the pursuance of own narrow interests by the party leadership and its clientele. Namibian elite politics of a new class in the making has perpetuated deeply rooted, structurally anchored socio-economic inequality at the expense of the majority of the people.

Because of national consciousness, the Namibian political elite drum heroism and justify their conduct even those that are suspect. This has become easy for Namibia has not moved from national consciousness to social and political consciousness. Such a move would mean that citizens would not view the conducts of the political leaders and actors solely from nationalism standpoint. They would look at the philosophical and practical meanings of every conduct outside nationalist politics – thanks to social and political conduct. Indeed, their material conditions would be factored in political choices and decisions they make. Aware that the citizens are still stuck in nationalism politics, the politicians in Namibia have realized that there is no need for them to rationalize their conduct for the masses are still stuck in nationalism politics. This has led to the current situation where politicians can be as reckless in the extreme in their political conduct- conductdent that their conduct has no political ramifications. They stand at public platforms projecting themselves as enlightened and clever. Sadly, only few in society are aware of the buffoonery characterisng these politicians. Indeed, only few are actually aware that in power are charlatans whose immediate concern is their stomach and not emancipatory politics.

Consider few examples. Recently, President Hage Geingob was caught on camera, promoting personal rule over the rule of law, when he ordered the City of Windhoek to drop the charges of the accused top officials. Geingob has no power, in terms of the Local Authority Act (23 of 1992) to issue such decrees. When the enlightened questioned him, he seemingly summed the national broadcaster to explain himself. He made it worse. He was again caught on camera telling the unsuspecting masses that a local authority reports to a Governor and a Minister he has appointed. At the subsequent opening of Cabinet he read a speech in which he claimed that Regional Councils are headed by a Governor. A close reading of the relevant laws that guides Regional Councils and Local Authorities in Namibia does not support any claims by the national consciousness – stuck President. That he can confidently makes these claims can only be explained by an observation that in an unsuspecting political society such as ours – wherein the transition did not take place from national consciousness to social and political consciousness - theatric charlatan indeed appear astute. Think about these recent comments by SWAPO Regional Coordinator of //Karas region, one Mathew Mumbala as quoted in The Namibian newspaper recently;

Mumbala encouraged party members to end their love and friendship relationship with those aligned to other political parties, saying it is unacceptable for a Swapo member to be a sympathiser of an opposition party. “We must even end marriages, or either quit politics and become spiritual leaders if you want to be fair to everyone,” he fumed.

That SWAPO dares to regulate sacred areas such as love and marriage for political advantage is not only indicative of the degeneration of the former liberation movement but demonstrates the party is aware that the unsuspecting masses are still stuck in national consciousness - and they have not moved to social and political consciousness – such that they can do and ask anything from the unsuspecting masses. Apartheid also sought to regulate love, sex and marriage through the Immorality Act, 1927 (Act No. 5 of 1927) and Immorality Amendment Act, 1950 (Act No. 21 of 1950) all that subsequently failed. That a ruling party in a democratic society will seek to go to similar length is not only scandalous but, indeed, demonstrates the dichotomy national consciousness on the one hand and the social and political consciousness on the other. Indeed, In an unsuspecting political society – a society that did not attain social and political consciousness - such as Namibia, theatric charlatans appears clever

Job Shipululo Amupanda is a Senior Lecturer (political science) at the University of Namibia and a Decolonial Scholar and Activist with the Affirmative Repositioning movement. Email: jamupanda@unam.na