EDITORIAL: Regionalism breeds ethnic mobilisation
Regionalism does not get enough mention in Namibia, yet it remains one of the unresolved problems on the political agenda of our multi-ethnic state.
When the Sam Nujoma administration of yesteryear came up with the concept of regions, it was to help decentralise and expedite development – not to polarise people into ethnic nationalism as it would later do.
In the realm of Swapo politics, these territorial demarcations have birthed a cancer of regionalism, whose tumours have outgrown tribalism itself. But, while the party has become turf for regional fights – especially during elective congresses – confining regionalism to Swapo alone would be a costly miscalculation.
The state's own developmental initiatives now take a regional form, with resources being gradually directed to areas with strong state players. Regions whose leaders are at the periphery of mainstream politics or distant from state organs that distribute the national cake are trailing in the dust of underdevelopment.
It was thus great to see Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah lifting the lid on this thorny issue over the weekend. In the north of the country, battle lines have long been drawn between the Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto regions. So much so that even conversations about the presidential position are often, rather arrogantly, confined to the three regions. The other 11 are only there as mere voting cows.
With regionalism, our national cohesion is slowly being eroded and replaced with socioeconomically-aligned loyalties based on geographic definitions.
When the Sam Nujoma administration of yesteryear came up with the concept of regions, it was to help decentralise and expedite development – not to polarise people into ethnic nationalism as it would later do.
In the realm of Swapo politics, these territorial demarcations have birthed a cancer of regionalism, whose tumours have outgrown tribalism itself. But, while the party has become turf for regional fights – especially during elective congresses – confining regionalism to Swapo alone would be a costly miscalculation.
The state's own developmental initiatives now take a regional form, with resources being gradually directed to areas with strong state players. Regions whose leaders are at the periphery of mainstream politics or distant from state organs that distribute the national cake are trailing in the dust of underdevelopment.
It was thus great to see Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah lifting the lid on this thorny issue over the weekend. In the north of the country, battle lines have long been drawn between the Ohangwena, Omusati and Oshikoto regions. So much so that even conversations about the presidential position are often, rather arrogantly, confined to the three regions. The other 11 are only there as mere voting cows.
With regionalism, our national cohesion is slowly being eroded and replaced with socioeconomically-aligned loyalties based on geographic definitions.
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Namibian Sun
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