Maintaining our democracy

Yesterday marked International Democracy Day with the National Assembly leading celebrations of this important event with the theme ‘Democracy 2030’. To give credit where it is due, democracy is alive and healthy in Namibia. To this day we have the rule of law that has granted civil rights to the citizens of this country as well as freedom of expression. Our press is not ranked the freest on the continent for nothing. And following years of being ruled by a repressive apartheid regime, for the past 26 years our country has been transformed into a multi-party democracy as provided by the Namibian constitution. We have a lot to be proud of as a nation. However, how do we maintain these high levels of democracy as we march on to 2030 and beyond? The ball is really in our hands now and we have to see to it that most importantly, among others, social evils such as oppression, corruption and division are not tolerated in our democratic system. We must continue the critical endeavour of strengthening institutional mechanisms for preventing power abuse. It is in our struggle to maintain the democratic systems that we continue to enjoy in this country, which thrive on difference and diversity. Perhaps it is also time that we draw lessons from our neighbour South Africa where its president Jacob Zuma recently repaid millions of taxpayer’s money he spent on upgrading his lavish home at Nkandla. The Nkandla saga might have been a damning indictment of the South African executive, and the president for failing to uphold, defend and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the land, however, it is also a reminder that its checks and balances are working. In our country it is critical that state institutions such as parliament and the courts be strengthened in order to make them more effective in their oversight roles. We must believe in the democratic institutions with checks and balances. Only after that can we talk of a thriving democracy.