‘People united for a common goal will always emerge victorious’

Remember, truth never hides

By Nkrumah Mushelenga

A lot of negativity against Swapo Party and its leadership has been said and continues to be talked about. However, little is being said about Swapo and her national leadership historical positive overviews, first as a liberation movement and indeed as the ruling political party.
Dear compatriots, remember truth never hides. It is a fact that history is a mirror image of truth. It is thus obvious that “history is the best judge whose verdict cannot be ignored” henceforth, the judicial power of Namibia is vested in the courts of Namibia, namely;
(a) Supreme Court of Namibia;
(b) High Court of Namibia;
(c) Lower Court of Namibia.
Equally, the judicial power of Swapo Party is vested in the;
Party Constitution;
Party Rules and Procedures for Conducting the Congress and Election of National Office-Bearers and Party Representatives at Legislative and Government Levels;
Party Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures; and indeed
Party Political Programme.
It is thus, logical to believe that it does not make sense to castigate the party while exonerating suspect members of the party. The party aims and objectives are a reflection of the party constitution and in line with national interests. Hence all party members are all party human assets as opposed to human liabilities.

The historical development of Swapo up to the present can be tabled into two critical important phases namely;
1. The 19 April 1960 formation of Swapo as a liberation movement. The movement was formed to among others;
1.1 Provide an organisational expression and national platform to the spontaneous scattered anti-colonial activities which characterised our society during the latter half of the 1950s.

1.2 Mobilise and localise labour strikes;
1.3 Mobilise students and community protests against the specific injustice of colonial rule, such as land expropriation;
1.4 the infamous contract labour system and;
1.5 arbitrary township relocations just to mention a few.

2.Second phase was to;
2.1 Unite the people of Namibia, irrespective of race, religion, sex or ethnic origin, into an indomitable fighting force against colonial apartheid regime.
2.2 Lobbying international community and petitioning to the United Nations;
2.3 Windhoek uprising of December 1959;
2.4 Establishment of underground guerrilla cells in the country;
2.5 Building up caches of arms and ammunition in various parts of the country;
2.6 Lobbying the international community for international solidarity support; and
2.7 To ensure that Namibians are accorded opportunities to further their education.
To degrade the above process, Pretoria rounded up many Swapo leaders, including Comrades Andimba Toivo ya Toivo and E.

Tuhadeleni (Kahumbakandolo) and passed the draconian Terrorism Act to try them and condemn them to decades of incarceration on Robben Island in the Republic of South Africa.
With the intensification of the armed liberation struggle by the People’s Liberation Army PLAN, the then military wing of Swapo as a liberation movement, the United Nations Resolution 435 of 1978 was adopted to pave the way for diplomatic dialogue.
Allow me to amplify my points with actual historical facts. Swapo as a liberation movement fought a protracted bitter liberation war for national independence.
War according to many military scholars, is an extension of politics. Please take note that the war for national liberation was fought on three fronts namely;
Political;
Diplomatic; and
Military fronts.
It is on record that tens of thousands of Namibians heroes and heroines’ courageously participated in the battle against colonial forces.
Many of them sacrificed their lives at the battlefield while many of them are living or languishing with foreign objects in their bodies as a prize to attain our national independence.
That objective of achieving national independence was realised on 21 March 1990.

Youth of this great nation, the Land of the Brave, the achievement of national independence did not come on a silver platter as many believe. We crossed many rivers of blood, sweats, tears and mountainous areas to accomplish the objective of phase one of Swapo as a liberation movement, namely national independence.
We were forewarned by the late Toivo Ya Toivo and Dr. Sam Nujoma, that the struggle would be long and bitter but that people united for a common goal will always emerge victorious.
Inspired by our national leaders through their foresight predictions of the war for national liberation, we stood firm, and resolute. Because we were guided by;
Self-inbuilt discipline,
Self-inbuilt unity,
Self-inbuilt commitment,
Self-inbuilt hope and faith for
Final victory.
We fought with conviction because we believed that our struggle was for;
national independence;
establishment of a scientific socialist government founded upon the will and participation of the Namibian people and
emancipation of the land and,
its God given natural resources.
The first phase of Swapo’s objectives was accomplished on 21 March 1990, and for all the Namibians who in one way or another participated in the struggle under the banner of Swapo as a liberation movement, 21 March 1990 marked the decisive turning point in the history of the Land of the Brave.
It was a day when Swapo fulfilled its historic mission with honours when the founding President of the Republic of Namibia, and Commander-in-Chief of PLAN military wing Dr. Sam Nujoma, performed the historic and moving act of proclaiming to our people and to the world at large, the birth of the Namibian nation.
As the ruling and indeed, dominant political party in this country, Swapo party has to define more clearly the role of the state in the country’s socio-economic development.
It is therefore logical to conclude that the majority of the Namibian people still expect the Swapo government, to play a key part in the country’s socio-economic development. That part began in 2015.
Equally, it should be emphasised that economic development is a process and that democracy and economic growth are not, in themselves, sufficient conditions for the elimination or reduction of the socio-economic inequality which today characterises our country and the Namibian society.
According to the Swapo Party Political Programme Guidelines for Action (1991), to “achieve the Swapo Party aims and objectives as stipulated in the Party’s Constitution, all organs, wings and affiliated bodies of the Party, are charged with the following responsibilities:”

(1) POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT
It is the party constitutional obligation that all members of all party organs, wings, and affiliated bodies, should acquaint themselves with party guidelines for action to;
understand and popularise the ideas and ideals of the solidarity, social justice and progress, as well as the principle of democracy on which Swapo is founded;
establish permanent effective communication links with the people at all levels of society, through both inter-personal and mass media channels, with a view to learning from them about their problems, their aspirations, their hopes and their doubts so as to enable the party and government to address such gaps;
mobilise the people for participation in the affairs of the government and society and thereby helping to develop in the Namibian citizenry a capacity for interpretation of political events in our country and the world as a whole;
organise the people to demand for accountability from their elected representatives and to defend their hard-won democratic rights and liberties, against any threat from whatever quarters;
inculcate in the masses of the Namibian people patriotic sentiments around which their creative and productive energies could be galvanised and channeled towards development; and
promote peace and security in our country’s sub-region, our continent and the world at large as well as to foster cooperation among nations.

*This article continues next week.
Nkrumah Mushelenga, Rt. Commissioner for Refugees and Founder and Chairperson of P.

N.P.C.V.T.