This is what has become of Heroes Day

Every year for the past 33 years, our society has been programmed and invited to celebrate Heroes Day on 26 August.

In line with the African idiom that until lions start telling their own story, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter, Namibian historiography is similarly dominated and directed by the hunter that emerged victorious at various historical epochs.

The hunters that arrived as missionaries and adventurers just before the institutionalisation of colonialism returned to Europe and wrote in their diaries that they had ‘discovered’ virgin land populated by primitive natives requiring a civilization. The colonial state effectively became an embodiment and an instrument of fulfilment of this master narrative – the need to civilise the uncivilised.

Although not commonly stated as part of the reason why colonialism ended, with the exception of the colonised zones liberated by way of actual revolution with revolutionary outcomes, colonialism became expensive, unworkable and actually a liability to the colonising forces.

For example, the apartheid state faced enormous economic and financial challenges in sustaining its war efforts. This is more so following the imposition of economic sanctions by the international community and the declaration of apartheid as a crime against humanity.

For the British colonial empire, brutal colonialism became a moral hazard and difficult to defend, particularly following the emergence of anti-colonial liberal politicians in British politics.

The Portuguese colonial experiment ended dramatically in the 1970s, following the overthrow of the regime that supervised colonialism. The new regime was no longer interested in maintaining the colonies.

Despite these historical facts, the nationalist organisations that had positioned themselves to receive the keys to independence sponsored a master narrative of heroic and gallant fights for freedom and independence. This narrative, including in Namibia’s case, downplayed these historical events that contributed to making colonialism unworkable. A historically unfamiliar 15-year-old teenager who woke up on Saturday, 26 August 2023, listening to narratives on radio and TV and later proceeded to Independence Stadium to listen to President Hage Geingob must have concluded that Namibia’s freedom was achieved through some revolutionary process that had real revolutionary outcomes.

It is accepted that the armed struggle played a significant role in contributing to the end of colonialism. The point is that it was not an exclusive contributor, as projected by the victorious hunters and primary beneficiaries of the political freedom project.

Of relevance to today’s conversation are not only the dramas pertaining to this year’s Heroes Day flip-flopping and relocated celebrations. We are concerned about the inability of political freedom hunters and primary beneficiaries to read the signs and the changing contours of both national memory and collective imagination.

Whereas the ruling party politicians and government passionately mobilise supporters to stadiums to repeat the same speeches of the master narrative, Heroes Day has dramatically and radically changed in purpose and posture.

The classical illustration of this change has been well captured by the reaction of politicians and auxiliaries alike following the cancellation and relocation of the celebration from Omuthiya to Windhoek.

The criticism of this development covers aspects such as the opportunity cost to local business people who were set to benefit through accommodation, the sale of alcohol, and opportunities to discuss deals with national politicians and senior civil servants who arrived in Omuthiya. Before the cancellation, local politicians frequented radio stations, announcing the economic benefits and opportunities that Heroes Day would bring. It is a common occurrence for regional and local politicians to lobby for Heroes Day to come to their regions or towns solely for purposes of material benefits. In the entire narrative about Heroes Day and where it should be hosted, there was no single reference to national consciousness, cohesion, or identity.

Granted, a national day would always bring benefits to any host. It is not argued in this conversation that the economic benefit is not important. The point is that the material aspects have superseded, transformed, and given new meaning to the Heroes Day celebration. One can thus argue that Heroes Day means stumbling and scrambling for tenders, an increase in the sale of alcohol, and bringing deals closer to the local elites. It equally means free lunch for the hungry locals called to listen to repeated speeches regurgitating the master narrative by the hunters and primary beneficiaries of political freedom. This is what has become of Heroes Day.

Due to a failure to read the national discourse and a lack of sophistry on the part of the ruling elite, it has not occurred to them that Heroes Day has dramatically and radically changed. The ruling elite is completely divorced from this reality. Even if this column miraculously awakens and enlightens them, it is highly doubtful if they have any capacity and capability to redirect and reinvent anything beyond the 33-year-old master narrative. It is a crisis.

Muthoni waKongola is a native of Kongola in the Zambezi Region, primarily concerned with analysing society and offering ideas for a better Namibia. She is reachable at [email protected] or @wakongola on Twitter.