The call for new socialism

The recently held Swapo extraordinary congress adopted a number of resolutions.

One of the key resolutions accepted at the Ramatex gathering was a draft proposal on what the ruling party stands for in terms of its ideology and the amendment of the party constitution to accommodate such an ideological doctrine.

A member of the Swapo think tank Vinson Hailulu was tasked with the daunting task of conducting comprehensive research and analysis on the subject matter and present to the highest policy-making body of the party, the congress, an appropriate ideology of the ruling party he helped author.

Namibian Sun this week caught up with Hailulu to provide detailed insights on the work that has gone into the crafting of the new ideology of Swapo, which is Socialism with the Namibian Character.



Namibian Sun: How long did the research take?

Vinson Hailulu: It took me more than five months. As a committed cadre of the party and a member of the think tank, I volunteered my professional services to do the research and came up with the draft ideology as directed by the Swapo Party leadership. I should however put it on record that, I am speaking from a perspective of a researcher and not on behalf of the party. So, for any policy related matters I refer you to the secretary-general of the party.

NS: Can you tell us a bit about the changing face of socialism?

Socialism started changing its face fundamentally, following the collapse of communist hegemony in the former Soviet Union and socialist countries in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall between 1989 and 1991. This was the end of communism which essentially resulted in the end of the Cold War. This trend naturally was the emergence of the pro-capitalist regimes in countries that were formerly under socialist/communist rule.

What the communists did was to recast themselves into ideological formations that were referred to as social democracy and democratic socialism as opposed to communism.

The reunification of Germany, unification of Yemen, breakup of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, among others, were the physical effects of the collapse of socialism and communism in the world geo-political arena. The collapse of communism in Europe, also affected African and Middle East states where socialism was practised. African countries like Angola, Benin, Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Somalia as well as Middle East countries like Yemen and Afghanistan were affected accordingly.

The Swapo Party in Namibia was not an exception and hence had to give up its socialist ideology it had adopted during the liberation struggle from its constitution. The demands by the Western powers for Swapo Party to give up its socialist ideology also became a fundamental condition for Namibia to gain its independence.

There was essentially a spread of Western culture and capitalism into former communist countries, including Russia, subsequent to the collapse of communism in the world.



NS: Can you give us examples of Chinese successes where they have shaped socialism to the benefit of their economy?

VH: Following the collapse of communism in Europe and the realisation of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of socialism as advocated by its founding fathers (Lenin, Engels, Marx), China started major political reforms in the 1970s, leading to the introduction of economic reforms and the adoption of the current socialist market economy.

The socialist market economy, also referred to interchangeably as state capitalism, is underpinned by three major elements namely, the state-owned sector, a regulated open market economy, as well as provision of incentives to local private companies.

In the state-owned sector, commercial activities are primarily undertaken by the state through their state-owned business enterprises which control the means of production on behalf of the state. That is why you see Chinese state-owned companies doing business in other countries, including Namibia, on behalf of the Chinese state.

The regulated market economy approach has enabled China to open up their economy to promote and attract foreign investors to invest in the Chinese economy within the confines of certain government regulations.

The provision of incentives to local private companies ensures that the local private enterprising is encouraged and supported through access to funding and other incentives in order to play a meaningful role in growing the economy.

Both state-owned and privately-owned enterprises are supported by the government to be competitive by providing financial instruments and subsidisation implemented through institutions such as the EXIM (Export and Import) Bank and Development Bank of China just to mention a few.

It is by practising this ideological orientation that the Chinese government has managed to build a competitive and advanced economy in the global economic arena.



NS: What is the comparative analysis of capitalism? And according to your research, what are the findings?

VH: Capitalism is a market-based economy underpinned by private and corporate ownership of the means of production.

My research concluded that there exist different capitalist economic models around the world. Without going into details, there is Anglo-Saxon capitalism, which is practised in English-speaking countries like the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong. There is also social market economy, which is sometimes referred to as a German capitalist model practised in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium. The Nordic model also called Nordic social democracy is practised in countries such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.

Each ideology has its unique characteristics. Some have low levels of regulation like the Anglo-Saxon model, which also has a public sector providing fewer services.

They have strong private property rights. The Nordic model has very strong social safety net provision for the public such as free education and universal healthcare. You also find a very high public expenditure in this model and the taxation systems are modelled to support the state welfare programmes.



NS: Having done the comparative analysis of socialism and capitalism, what was your ideological proposal to the Swapo Party?

VH: The overall conclusion of my research and ideological analysis is that there is no pure capitalist system nor is there pure socialist system.

All ideological systems had to be to be tailor-made to fit particular and unique social, economic, political and even cultural conditions of a country concerned.

Hence, taking into account the Namibian political, social, economic, political cultural and historical context, I proposed to the party leadership that the ideology of Swapo Party should be Socialism with a Namibian Character. It employs the open market principles and techniques to develop the Namibian economy.

This ideology is underpinned by the principles of justice, economic, inclusivity and shared prosperity which the state plays a significant role through the ownership of the means of production (by state-owned entities); providing the social safety nets and maintaining the traditional role of the state of developing and providing social and economic infrastructure, defence and security.

Under this ideological framework, the state shall bear the responsibility of macroeconomic management and setting a policy and regulatory framework to regulate the market.

The ideology is to be used as a tool to, inter alia, advance political, economic and social empowerment; to protect and sustain the environment and ecological systems for the livelihood of the current and future generations; to advance the interest and plight of women, youth and the Namibian child (especially taking into account the alarming social evils such as gender-based violence, human trafficking, so-called passion killings); and to promote and protect the interest of labour.



NS: How in your opinion, will this socialist ideology with a Namibian character adopted by the recent Swapo Party extraordinary congress, serve the party and Namibia at large?

VH: This ideology will give clarity to all members of Swapo Party in terms of the ideological position of our party and more importantly, it will guide the Swapo-led government in coming up with policies and development programmes that are in tandem with the ideological orientation of the party.

For example, this ideology will set a clear tone in terms of how government must handle state-owned enterprises considering their role in managing and controlling the means of production on behalf of the state.

It will also set a clear tone when it comes to policies around the protection of the environment and ecosystems of the country.

We have for instance in Namibia the issue of phosphate mining and sand mining under consideration by the government, so these policy considerations should be done within the ideological framework of the ruling party.

The political and economic empowerment through devolution of power to sub-national governments being the local and regional authorities, and to parastatals, is to be influenced by the set ideology.

For instance this ideology will also positively influence the way Namibian workers will be treated by employers and the government will be expected to champion such efforts more aggressively than ever before, not to mention the promotion of the interest of the youth and that of the women of Namibia.



*Vinson Hailulu is the founding CEO of Oshakati local authority. He is also the first black CEO of the City of Windhoek and is a former CEO of the National Housing Enterprise. He holds a Master's degree in Public Management, majoring in economics and innovation in the public sector, obtained from Harvard University in the US.