I believe in pragmatic solutions of conflicts
I would like to inform my prospective readers that as one of ex-PLAN combatants who should count themselves fortunate enough that they are still able to breathe and reap the fruits of independence, I am busy working on my story and my life as a PLAN combatant and also my memories of living in exile. Snippets to this effect are already piling up at home. I know also that my prospective readers would seemingly want to have an idea about the title of my book. This is not a secret at all. It, therefore, reads as follows: "Nobody knows the trouble I have seen".
In the Bible there is a word of God which says "there is nothing new under the sun". In this respect if there is already a book or any documentation that carries the same title, be it here or abroad, is purely a mere coincidence, hence I will not hesitate to find another title for my book, pending my readers' advice.
The fact that I was not a "lone guerrilla", so to say, I will need to interview a number of my fellow PLAN fighters with whom I have shared trenches and various encounters with our adversaries - the then South African racist occupationist troops. So, those of you comrades who were with me during that fierce battle at Onakatumbe, please expect an interview with me, just to start with.
However, this is not the main topic of my discussion today. The main issue that I want to discuss today centres around the question of unity within the ranks of our SWAPO Party as reported in the New Era of 11 February 2005, article intitled: "SWAPO calls for unity in ranks". In this article it was reported that the two top leaders of our mighty SWAPO have both called for unity within the Party ranks during the Party's first Politburo meeting on Wednesday last week. In view of this I strongly feel that our two leaders should be applauded loudly for making such a bold call which is long overdue.
But unfortunately there is a big BUT. One wonders how this can be achieved when we still persist in a witch-hunt since the Party Congress of 2004 to nominate a successor to Comrade President Sam Nujoma.
Before I delve much into my arguments I would like to refer my readers to the word of our Almighty God in the Book of the Corinthians Chapter 13 from verses 1-3. I took liberty to do that with full knowledge that most of my readers as well as SWAPO leaders and rank and file are Christians. So, the word, per se, reads as follows: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding piece of brass or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all."
Now down to earth. If I climb on top of the roof and preach for unity in the Party, but do not have love for all of my comrades in the Party, what then? The word of God provides the answer. If I use all the platforms and preach for unity, but if my actions are contrary to what I preach, I simply make a serious mockery of the principle that I stand for.
Punished for making a choice
Remember that we have standing instructions in the Party circles to get rid of all the comrades who supported this candidate and not the other. Find a way to get rid of them wherever they are, says the instruction. - As a result, we now have Party cadres who have lost their jobs and are now back in the army of unemployment in this country. We still have in our midst a number of comrades whose jobs are at stake for the same reason. Can we truly expect the affected comrades to take the message home after having lost their jobs in this way. I am that type of a person who believes in pragmatic solutions of conflicts. Therefore, in practical terms, it is difficult for me to expect the affected ones to unite with those who have removed their bread from their mouths. If there is a blame somewhere then I think it must be placed where it belongs. The Central Committee of SWAPO brought three candidates to the masses so that they could make their choice, but all of a sudden people are now being blamed and punished severely for making a choice.
The people who are condemning others to street life through this sordid instruction should best be advised to visualize the far-reaching consequences of their actions. "The world is turning around", remember! But I am speaking under correction, are the instructions maybe withdrawn?
Believe you me, there is a lot to be desired before we begin to talk about unity within the Party ranks. For instance, in our Party there are names that are still bleeding as a result of merciless propaganda. This is not a secret. For how long will they suffer like this, in silence? People in the Party are not reaching out any more, they hold each other in derision, they fear one another, they no longer trust each other, and so on and so forth. Insinuations, innuendos, rumour-mongering and name calling is the order of the day. These are the sort of things which have serious impact on our Party unity. We must talk about these things or should we all as men get in skirts and say nothing at all? Even our women-folk stand their ground without fear nowadays. The comrades who are affected still want to know what offence they have committed in the Party to deserve all that. The question is - who will want to associate with people who are made to be unwanted in the Party? The impression is like that whether we like it or not. Therefore, names must be cleared first.
Childish illusions among some members
I need to point to the other elements which are counter-productive to our unity of purpose. I am simply referring to those illusions that many a comrade believe in. What are these illusions all about? You know, some comrades think that when you simply wrap your neck with the Party colours then you are more of a SWAPO than the others. But if that is the case, can a person who carries a Bible in his/her hand every day be necessarily regarded as an outright heritable of the Kingdom of God? Also, some people think that when you are best at toyi-toying and leading songs during Party Congress then you are more of a SWAPO than the others and therefore you are the righteous of all in the Party. Another illusion is that when you are personally closer or favoured by the President then you are more of a SWAPO than those who are not. In such a way, they also believe that they deserve the right to stand up and say whatever they want to say, and nobody should dare to challenge them irrespective of whether what they say offend the other comrades or not. To me this is childish of the highest order.
One wonders whether with the new dispensation the same practice will continue regarding those who will be surrounding the new President. Oh, my God! Will it maybe the same characters again?
Talking of the same elements and I mean counter-productive elements, you know, we have genuine aspirations and wishes of Party members both in Omaheke region and Ongwediva which were shattered and strangled nakedly. The process of identifying and deciding who should be and not be a regional Councillor, regional Governor, a Member of Parliament, etc? I am talking about our crafting of strategies which brings unnecessary confusion, ill feelings and despair among Party members.
Having illustrated this sorry state of affairs I for one feel that instead of talking about unity within the Party ranks we should rather focus on possible reconciliation in the Party as a whole. And I want to offer my humble advice to the esteemed President-Elect, Comrade Hifikepunye Pohamba, to make this ideal one of his immediate focal points once he has ultimately taken over the reigns on the 21st March 2005. The message should be about forgiving each other. Once we forgive each another there is no doubt that unity will absolutely be automatic! Comrade President-Elect, in your tested leadership, we are confident that you will honour the mandate to unity, as granted by the Namibian people. No Namibian in the country and in our Party, shall therefore feel they are not good Namibians or not good Party cadres. There shall never be room for divisive activities. 76% of our population has spoken and firmly rejected such tendencies.
I now rest my case and pray for peace, meaningful reconciliation and glasnost in the Party, Amen!
Peter Naholo, Windhoek
In the Bible there is a word of God which says "there is nothing new under the sun". In this respect if there is already a book or any documentation that carries the same title, be it here or abroad, is purely a mere coincidence, hence I will not hesitate to find another title for my book, pending my readers' advice.
The fact that I was not a "lone guerrilla", so to say, I will need to interview a number of my fellow PLAN fighters with whom I have shared trenches and various encounters with our adversaries - the then South African racist occupationist troops. So, those of you comrades who were with me during that fierce battle at Onakatumbe, please expect an interview with me, just to start with.
However, this is not the main topic of my discussion today. The main issue that I want to discuss today centres around the question of unity within the ranks of our SWAPO Party as reported in the New Era of 11 February 2005, article intitled: "SWAPO calls for unity in ranks". In this article it was reported that the two top leaders of our mighty SWAPO have both called for unity within the Party ranks during the Party's first Politburo meeting on Wednesday last week. In view of this I strongly feel that our two leaders should be applauded loudly for making such a bold call which is long overdue.
But unfortunately there is a big BUT. One wonders how this can be achieved when we still persist in a witch-hunt since the Party Congress of 2004 to nominate a successor to Comrade President Sam Nujoma.
Before I delve much into my arguments I would like to refer my readers to the word of our Almighty God in the Book of the Corinthians Chapter 13 from verses 1-3. I took liberty to do that with full knowledge that most of my readers as well as SWAPO leaders and rank and file are Christians. So, the word, per se, reads as follows: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding piece of brass or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophesying and am acquainted with all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to transplant mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all."
Now down to earth. If I climb on top of the roof and preach for unity in the Party, but do not have love for all of my comrades in the Party, what then? The word of God provides the answer. If I use all the platforms and preach for unity, but if my actions are contrary to what I preach, I simply make a serious mockery of the principle that I stand for.
Punished for making a choice
Remember that we have standing instructions in the Party circles to get rid of all the comrades who supported this candidate and not the other. Find a way to get rid of them wherever they are, says the instruction. - As a result, we now have Party cadres who have lost their jobs and are now back in the army of unemployment in this country. We still have in our midst a number of comrades whose jobs are at stake for the same reason. Can we truly expect the affected comrades to take the message home after having lost their jobs in this way. I am that type of a person who believes in pragmatic solutions of conflicts. Therefore, in practical terms, it is difficult for me to expect the affected ones to unite with those who have removed their bread from their mouths. If there is a blame somewhere then I think it must be placed where it belongs. The Central Committee of SWAPO brought three candidates to the masses so that they could make their choice, but all of a sudden people are now being blamed and punished severely for making a choice.
The people who are condemning others to street life through this sordid instruction should best be advised to visualize the far-reaching consequences of their actions. "The world is turning around", remember! But I am speaking under correction, are the instructions maybe withdrawn?
Believe you me, there is a lot to be desired before we begin to talk about unity within the Party ranks. For instance, in our Party there are names that are still bleeding as a result of merciless propaganda. This is not a secret. For how long will they suffer like this, in silence? People in the Party are not reaching out any more, they hold each other in derision, they fear one another, they no longer trust each other, and so on and so forth. Insinuations, innuendos, rumour-mongering and name calling is the order of the day. These are the sort of things which have serious impact on our Party unity. We must talk about these things or should we all as men get in skirts and say nothing at all? Even our women-folk stand their ground without fear nowadays. The comrades who are affected still want to know what offence they have committed in the Party to deserve all that. The question is - who will want to associate with people who are made to be unwanted in the Party? The impression is like that whether we like it or not. Therefore, names must be cleared first.
Childish illusions among some members
I need to point to the other elements which are counter-productive to our unity of purpose. I am simply referring to those illusions that many a comrade believe in. What are these illusions all about? You know, some comrades think that when you simply wrap your neck with the Party colours then you are more of a SWAPO than the others. But if that is the case, can a person who carries a Bible in his/her hand every day be necessarily regarded as an outright heritable of the Kingdom of God? Also, some people think that when you are best at toyi-toying and leading songs during Party Congress then you are more of a SWAPO than the others and therefore you are the righteous of all in the Party. Another illusion is that when you are personally closer or favoured by the President then you are more of a SWAPO than those who are not. In such a way, they also believe that they deserve the right to stand up and say whatever they want to say, and nobody should dare to challenge them irrespective of whether what they say offend the other comrades or not. To me this is childish of the highest order.
One wonders whether with the new dispensation the same practice will continue regarding those who will be surrounding the new President. Oh, my God! Will it maybe the same characters again?
Talking of the same elements and I mean counter-productive elements, you know, we have genuine aspirations and wishes of Party members both in Omaheke region and Ongwediva which were shattered and strangled nakedly. The process of identifying and deciding who should be and not be a regional Councillor, regional Governor, a Member of Parliament, etc? I am talking about our crafting of strategies which brings unnecessary confusion, ill feelings and despair among Party members.
Having illustrated this sorry state of affairs I for one feel that instead of talking about unity within the Party ranks we should rather focus on possible reconciliation in the Party as a whole. And I want to offer my humble advice to the esteemed President-Elect, Comrade Hifikepunye Pohamba, to make this ideal one of his immediate focal points once he has ultimately taken over the reigns on the 21st March 2005. The message should be about forgiving each other. Once we forgive each another there is no doubt that unity will absolutely be automatic! Comrade President-Elect, in your tested leadership, we are confident that you will honour the mandate to unity, as granted by the Namibian people. No Namibian in the country and in our Party, shall therefore feel they are not good Namibians or not good Party cadres. There shall never be room for divisive activities. 76% of our population has spoken and firmly rejected such tendencies.
I now rest my case and pray for peace, meaningful reconciliation and glasnost in the Party, Amen!
Peter Naholo, Windhoek
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