The ‘Netumbo-listic’ Way of Governing and the Namibian Democracy
Deep-held belief
The National Council already operates on this principle: regional councillors are elected through the first-past-the-post system from individual constituencies, with voters casting ballots for individual candidates rather than party lists.
As Anthony Liccione once said, “A fool is made more of a fool when their mouth is more open than their mind.” The recent reaction to the ministerial and deputy minister appoint...
If you are an active subscriber and the article is not showing, please log out and back in. Free access to articles from 10:00.
Comments
Gabriel Matthew
What Namibia is witnessing is not the emergence of a durable governance system, but the sophisticated centring of governance around a single leader (current president) who is using the tools of democratic theory to rationalise what is, in practice, a fragile, personality-driven, and party-preserving strategy. When she leaves, the system she is building, which depends entirely on her strategic appointments, will leave with her. A country that confuses tactical parliamentary management with systemic reform is one crisis away from democratic backsliding.
Gabriel Matthew
This ad hominem dismissal is precisely how authoritarian-leaning regimes silence legitimate opposition. In a functioning democracy, public critique is not noise but data. By dismissing social media critics as fools, the author mirrors the rhetoric of leaders who view any scrutiny as disloyalty. A robust democratic system welcomes the mouth-brain reaction because that is how citizens hold power accountable between elections. The President’s job is not to educate the public on political science, but to withstand their scrutiny.