EDITORIAL: Swapo in the parable of the Jerusalem donkey
There is an old tale of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem. Cloaks were thrown on the road, palm branches waved, crowds roared. And the donkey, swollen with pride, mistook that adoration as being meant for him.
So the next day, the donkey returned back into the city alone, expecting the same cheers and adulation. Instead, people chased it away with stones. Without the one he carried on his back the previous day, he was just a donkey - and the applause had never been his.
Today, Swapo should take a long, hard look at that donkey.
Last week’s regional and local authority elections have returned the ruling party to the helm of many councils. But, make no mistake, this was no triumphant parade. If anything, it was an electorate choosing the devil they know after the opposition proved incapable of governing key cities they won in 2020. Namibians voted with resignation, not enthusiasm. They voted with lowered expectations, not renewed faith.
And yet, already, some in Swapo are tempted to thump their chests - convinced that the voters have fallen back in love with them. That would be the fatal mistake of the Jerusalem donkey.
For years, Namibians have watched infrastructure crumble, youth unemployment soar, and state services decay. The party’s return to power does not mean people have forgotten. It means the alternatives failed to inspire confidence. Swapo did not surge; the opposition collapsed. The ruling party was not carried into Jerusalem on a wave of praise - it was carried by the failures of others.
The donkey learned its lesson the hard way. Swapo still has time to learn it the easy way - by recognising that borrowed glory is not the same as popularity. Now hard work!
So the next day, the donkey returned back into the city alone, expecting the same cheers and adulation. Instead, people chased it away with stones. Without the one he carried on his back the previous day, he was just a donkey - and the applause had never been his.
Today, Swapo should take a long, hard look at that donkey.
Last week’s regional and local authority elections have returned the ruling party to the helm of many councils. But, make no mistake, this was no triumphant parade. If anything, it was an electorate choosing the devil they know after the opposition proved incapable of governing key cities they won in 2020. Namibians voted with resignation, not enthusiasm. They voted with lowered expectations, not renewed faith.
And yet, already, some in Swapo are tempted to thump their chests - convinced that the voters have fallen back in love with them. That would be the fatal mistake of the Jerusalem donkey.
For years, Namibians have watched infrastructure crumble, youth unemployment soar, and state services decay. The party’s return to power does not mean people have forgotten. It means the alternatives failed to inspire confidence. Swapo did not surge; the opposition collapsed. The ruling party was not carried into Jerusalem on a wave of praise - it was carried by the failures of others.
The donkey learned its lesson the hard way. Swapo still has time to learn it the easy way - by recognising that borrowed glory is not the same as popularity. Now hard work!
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Namibian Sun
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