Decentralisation hindrance: A betrayal to the rural masses

In Namibia, decentralisation is a constitutional requirement; therefore, it is government’s mandate to work towards it. Our constitution entrenches decentralisation within a unitary state as a fundamental principle. Chapter 12 deals with regional and local government providing the institutionalisation and the application of decentralisation.

When decentralisation was given constitutional provision in 1989 at the constituent assembly, it was emphasised that it is the most effective and efficient administration for participatory democracy and shared prosperity for all.

Independent Namibia has many problems - most of them emanating from the reluctance of government to decentralise.

Many regional councils are situated in rural areas where the majority of Namibian people live, marked by large-scale poverty. Namibians, in particular the rural masses, have been the victims of the centralisation of political, financial and administrative power.

There are studies and research conducted that demonstrate that Namibia is a highly unequal society with high levels of poverty, unfair distribution and access to resources and lack of public services in rural areas, among other indicators of marginalisation. This bring us to the history of decentralisation - the concept was promoted in an area of undemocratic authoritarian regimes that promoted inequitable, undemocratic economic and social policies that favoured the power-holding elites who centralised decision-making in the hands of the authoritative regimes.

As a response to unmet social needs of the economically and politically marginalised grassroots movements, local community development organisations and other non-governmental organisations grew in numbers and paralysed the undemocratic authoritative regime. This background compelled even democratic countries to decentralise because they believed that democracy and decentralisation go hand in hand.

Skewed development

During the deliberation of the Namibia Constitution, the ruling party opposed decentralisation as it will create balkanisation and opted for centralisation to promote the ‘One Namibia, One Nation’ concept. Today, the Namibian government shares the same characteristics of undemocratic and authoritative regime. Namibians have seen skewed development based on regionalism and ethnicity in 32 years of independence. Only those regions with the majority representatives in the central government are the biggest beneficiaries of the country’s resources. This can easily be confirmed by statistics at the Namibia Statistic Agency on higher poverty rates in Kavango West and East, Zambezi, Omaheke and Kunene, which are the regions with lower representation in the executive and the legislature (National Assembly).

Reports at the National Planning Commission show how projects that are planned and budgeted for in these regions are transferred to other regions. Officials at the national level engage in vermination of funds with no guidelines or valid reasons. Few examples are the Kavango West regional state hospital which was abandoned nine years ago and the upgrading of the Katima Mulilo State Hospital to an intermediate hospital, also abandoned four years ago.

These are few examples amongst many of economical and political marginalization, and how centralisation negatively impacts lives of people in the regions.

Power-holding

This power-holding explains the sudden accumulation of wealth of so-called ‘liberators’ and comrades over a short period of time. How did some become multimillionaires overnight while a third of their fellow citizens languish in poverty? Yet when it is election time, you will hear them shouting “our people, our people” without shame. Similarly, our legislators will mention the importance of decentralization, but nothing in their drafting of legislation corroborates that importance. The executive will use words like ‘rural empowerment’ and ‘shared prosperity’ to mobilise support and votes, then return to their lavish lifestyles and expensive suburbs to strategise ways to earn their families and businesses multimillionaire status without years of hard work and value creation at the expense of the masses.

It is unfortunate that the majority of our leaders in the regions are ‘house negroes’ who are comfortable maintaining the affairs of the new colonisers as long as they receive some of the crumbs. Councillors do not question the inexistence of a constituency budget, but we have a national budget. And yet they are seen promising projects and development to the hopeless masses during campaigns. Isn’t that belly politics?

How long will the centre hold if decentralisation and meaningful wealth redistribution is not addressed as a matter of urgency? The rural masses have prayed for justice, equality and freedom, but that prayer was never answered by the executive, legislature and judiciary - this is evident to everyone.

Decentralisation hindrance is a betrayal to the rural masses for 32 years. What we are confident of as the rural masses is our ability to recognise this solemn truth and bring about a revolution to the status quo. People in the regions deserve a better life like any other Namibian in their country of birth.

*Hailing from Nkurenkuru in the Kavango West Region, Modestus Kasoma Kupembona is youth activist for social justice and the chairperson for the Freedom March Movement, a civic society organisation established to address injustice and inequality.