Namibia: Old guard leadership in its element

By: Dylan MukoroliNamibia, 27 years into independence has achieved a great deal, however there is a greater deal that has still to be achieved for Namibians at the far end of the line to start reaping the benefits. To enable this to happen there needs to be a form of leadership that can prevail and leaders need to sensitise themselves to society. Leadership has been at the centre of many revolutions, reformations and industrialisations. One finds that there exists a “preference”, when it comes to what kind of leadership one should associate with. First being (i) democratic leadership: This form of leadership has its origins on the margins of basic democracy, and has components such deep in subordinate responsibility, social cohesion and the woe of the masses. Namibia has demonstrated this form of leadership in its early days of independence, when they knew the feelings having “democratic power”. This saw the implementations of large-scale programmes such as adult learning and literacy. State-owned enterprises also saw their rise when they were commissioned and mandated to spearhead these initiatives. However one can argue the ingenuinity of this leadership, as it is not by will but by mandate that newly established democracies must follow, has gone and hence most of these programmes don’t serve a larger purpose and are phased out. Namibia also portrayed other forms of leadership such as (ii) organisational oriented leadership, (iii) team leadership. These two forms of leadership, serve the wider ends of society. Organisational oriented leadership is when individuals U-turn from national aims to institutional/organisational agendas. In the Namibian context, an analogy would be when the majority party rigidly developed its institutional framework to ensure longer and prosperous existence. This was through deployment of cadres in key positions to drive the institutional agenda. This form of leadership served its disadvantaged purpose, that there was little focus on the country then. It was at this stage when unemployment levels surged, poverty increased, and the economy benefited the balander. It was at this stage where there was growing discontent and calls for the majority government to get itself in order. This then saw the minimisation of the organisational oriented leadership, and a paradigm shift came in form of “team leadership”. Team leadership was to be the alternative to further sensitise and lobby for the societal support. Components of team leadership involve the creation of a vivid picture of its future, where it is heading and what it will stand for. The vision inspires and provides a strong sense of purpose and direction, an analogy in the Namibian context are the failing NDPs and Vision 2030. Its narrative of national development, economic emancipation, health, social capacity building and decentralisation of wealth are admirable. However, its mistranslation comes in form that there is no clear-cut plan to implement all these plans. This call for unity in action comes with action less unity. Namibia has so far passed four NDPs and is embracing the NDP5. And there is very little that one can reference as developmental products of these NDPs. This relates to the failure of team leadership that national imperatives and visioning creates an ideal Namibia that most should be working towards, but government doesn’t set the platform and framework that we can build on. This analysis leads me to the abstract of this opinion piece, old guard leadership can be regarded as the “never give up” form of leadership. But there is a whole world behind the word. This form of leadership is the kind that bares leaders that worked themselves up the ranks of institutions and organisations. They fought existing systems to ensure that they settle themselves. As they make it to the top of the institutional chain, they hold on tight and automatically become the system. In the Namibian context, old guard leadership has enacted itself in SOE’s, ministries and tertiary educational institutions. Old guard leadership through the establishment oppresses young ones hoping to break ranks and build themselves. They oppress the generation that they sensitised and rooted the belief of a solid nation.There has been much more prevalence during the recent incidences, where the fearless youth have raised up contemporary issues such as Land, economic emancipation and social growth. But there is no indication by the old guard to bring forth the support. Even within the ruling establishment, the old guard in leadership has suppressed the revolutionary youth, and has acted unconstitutionally in trying to secure itself. And it has come to the point where they end up in the other side of the law. A further headache for the old guard is that the revolutionary youth have used legally responsible methods of sensitisation and accountability, and this proves a new era of educated revolutionaries. *Dylan Mukoroli is a new age capitalist and third-year Lifelong Learning and Community Education student at the University of Namibia

Namibia: Old guard leadership in its element

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-14

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Namibia: Old guard leadership in its element

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-14

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