Kavango residents bemoan diplomatic 'exclusion'

KENYA KAMBOWERUNDUFollowing the deployment of nine new heads of missions on Friday, many people from the two Kavango regions, including academics and Swapo diehards, have questioned their regions' perceived exclusion from the appointments.They claimed that their exclusion from the diplomatic appointments mismatched their loyalty to Swapo as evidenced by the results of successive elections. They further claimed that being the second largest community in the country, they are entitled to be represented fairly in government. Echoing DieschoThis wave of discontent mirrors the views of Professor Joseph Diescho from Kavango East, who in his public lectures described people from the two Kavango regions as 'voting cattle' because of their purported exclusion.“You cannot win an election in Namibia without the Kavango vote,” Diescho said during a public lecture in Rundu last year.“After the vote, the Kavango is completely absent from anything and the youth does not question this. Two regions, the second highest in voting numbers and only two ministers, both from Kavango East and both from the Roman Catholic Church. Something is very wrong here. Where is the youth?,” he once said.Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah, who also hails from Kavango, said the demands for inclusion by people in the two regions are justified.“Voting is about expectations. People don't just vote for the sake of voting. Had the Kavango people voted differently last year, probably Geingob would not be in the position to appoint ambassadors today,” Kamwanyah said.“Had they voted differently, Swapo would not be the majority in parliament. Had they voted differently in the last election, Swapo would not have come out tops. “I think the Kavango people's anger is not entitlement but the realisation that the Swapo Party is taking them for granted, just like how the southerners have realised that Swapo has been taking them for granted on the land issue. Really, what's the requirements for being an ambassador that no Kavango qualify?“Voting is also about representation and numbers. Kavango is the second majority, which they have been using to firmly put the Swapo Party in commanding authority yet they are barely or fractionally represented at the decision-making table,” Kamwanyah argued.Another commentator, Federico Links, said people from the two regions should divert their energies to calling for development in their communities. Links further questioned how a region benefits when a person from that region is deployed as a foreign head of mission. “I think the energies of the people in the Kavango regions should be more directed at trying to see their votes being reflected in infrastructural development in the regions instead of who is posted overseas,” Links said. “What does that bring to anybody or an individual region whether so many Kavangos are posted overseas? What tangible benefit does it bring to anybody in that region?”kenya@namibiansun.com

Kavango residents bemoan diplomatic 'exclusion'

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Kavango residents bemoan diplomatic 'exclusion'

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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