EDITORIAL: Will Luvindao's courage become culture?
Health minister Dr Esperance Luvindao entered Cabinet as a surprise pick, and was instantly thrown into the deep end - not by policy challenges, but by petty, xenophobic murmurs that questioned her very nationality. That she had to spend her early days defending her Namibian identity is a travesty in itself, but this week, Luvindao began to define her leadership on her own terms.
She emerged from the shadows of doubt with surprising resolve, taking the fight directly to the rot in her ministry’s scandal-ridden medical supply system. First came the revelation of quinine malaria pills that illegally entered the country and were stocked in state medical stores - all while being unregistered with regulatory authorities. Then came the bombshell that Fabupharm, one of the country's leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, has been supplying the government with medicine without a valid manufacturing certificate for over a year.
What distinguishes Luvindao is not just her willingness to speak out publicly on these matters, but the fact that she did so in the face of potential political blowback. The quinine saga was initially flagged by Professor Job Amupanda - arguably a political rival. In true Swapo fashion, the expected script would have been to ignore, downplay, or dismiss his claims. But Luvindao chose a different path. She investigated, acknowledged, and confronted.
For too long, Swapo leaders have operated on a principle of “who said it” instead of “what is being said”. This week, Luvindao broke that toxic tradition.
The procurement space in public healthcare has long been a feeding trough for the corrupt. And while it’s still far too early to say whether Luvindao represents a meaningful departure from business as usual, her recent conduct gives us reason to hope.
She emerged from the shadows of doubt with surprising resolve, taking the fight directly to the rot in her ministry’s scandal-ridden medical supply system. First came the revelation of quinine malaria pills that illegally entered the country and were stocked in state medical stores - all while being unregistered with regulatory authorities. Then came the bombshell that Fabupharm, one of the country's leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, has been supplying the government with medicine without a valid manufacturing certificate for over a year.
What distinguishes Luvindao is not just her willingness to speak out publicly on these matters, but the fact that she did so in the face of potential political blowback. The quinine saga was initially flagged by Professor Job Amupanda - arguably a political rival. In true Swapo fashion, the expected script would have been to ignore, downplay, or dismiss his claims. But Luvindao chose a different path. She investigated, acknowledged, and confronted.
For too long, Swapo leaders have operated on a principle of “who said it” instead of “what is being said”. This week, Luvindao broke that toxic tradition.
The procurement space in public healthcare has long been a feeding trough for the corrupt. And while it’s still far too early to say whether Luvindao represents a meaningful departure from business as usual, her recent conduct gives us reason to hope.
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