EDITORIAL: Why Netumbo’s victory matters
Beyond what meets the eye, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s victory to retain her position as vice-president of Swapo is symbolic in a thousand ways.
First, it puts to shame the artificial fallacy of Swapo’s zebra-styled gender equality scheme, which purports that women can only make it in politics with a little push to their backside.
So much effort is being spared for this superficial arrangement, leaving very little done to the fundamental challenges that actually impede women’s independent growth in Swapo politics.
Second, there’s now a chance – pending 2024 – that the country could get its first female president. The three male presidents we’ve had brought upon us mixed fortunes. Corruption has thrived on their watch, our inequality remains the highest in the world and, as matters stand, unemployment is at its most severe in our post-independence history.
We do not argue that a female leader would do better exclusively on the basis of their gender, but perhaps many Namibians are curious about what ‘motherly’ leadership would bring to the table.
Third, that Nandi-Ndaitwah circumvented her way to the top without the supposed ‘tradition’ of being endorsed by the party president and banking on the political currency that comes with that support sets a great precedent going forward. For too long, bad leaders were pushed down our collective throat simply because they had unmatched backing from the very top – with their character and ability coming a distant second.
First, it puts to shame the artificial fallacy of Swapo’s zebra-styled gender equality scheme, which purports that women can only make it in politics with a little push to their backside.
So much effort is being spared for this superficial arrangement, leaving very little done to the fundamental challenges that actually impede women’s independent growth in Swapo politics.
Second, there’s now a chance – pending 2024 – that the country could get its first female president. The three male presidents we’ve had brought upon us mixed fortunes. Corruption has thrived on their watch, our inequality remains the highest in the world and, as matters stand, unemployment is at its most severe in our post-independence history.
We do not argue that a female leader would do better exclusively on the basis of their gender, but perhaps many Namibians are curious about what ‘motherly’ leadership would bring to the table.
Third, that Nandi-Ndaitwah circumvented her way to the top without the supposed ‘tradition’ of being endorsed by the party president and banking on the political currency that comes with that support sets a great precedent going forward. For too long, bad leaders were pushed down our collective throat simply because they had unmatched backing from the very top – with their character and ability coming a distant second.
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Namibian Sun
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