Time to heed Netumbo’s message

Seasoned political scientists have an uncanny ability to smell the wind and taste the first drops of rain.If that is anything to go by, it is time to gauge the temperature and name the mood on the ground in the regions of Namibia where the Swapo vice-presidential candidates have petitioned delegates and 2024 voters to trust them.By assessing the pulse of the nation, it is becoming evident that, of the three candidates that have begun to stomp the ground, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is the most appealing so far.The factors that work in her favour, in the context of Swapo&#039;s reputation, which is in free fall, are the following:1. Netumbo presents a picture of being more mature, being the most authentic and most believable.2. She served as Swapo&#039;s secretary general and, during her tenure, the party grew in respectability without the types of questions that tainted the party after her term, especially during the 2017 elective congress.3. She is one of the few top Swapo figures who is not as tainted by the stench of corruption day-in and day-out as the others.4. While many Swapo leaders are greedy and are involved in real estate, in which they use their positions in cahoots with corrupt banks to acquire properties that they rent to the poor and, as such, can leave their offices to evict poor Namibians, Netumbo has steered clear of such activities as a public servant.5. While she has intellectual and age limitations like the rest of us, she is more measured in her approach to matters affecting the nation and thus comes across as the most empathetic towards the common man and everyday Namibian.6. In the context of what the nation has been going through under an angry and intolerant leadership, Netumbo&#039;s temperance is indeed a welcome breath of fresh air, which is vitally needed to prosecute the task of uniting a nation tearing at the seams.7. Of the current contestants, Netumbo is the most solid and the only one who is unlikely to cut a deal with anyone to protect the incumbent president after his term in 2024, or to undertake to wheelbarrow the current first lady into parliament just to clear the space for a vice president or prime minister appointment to protect the former president. The nation can see that Netumbo is solid enough to steer the ship without some ghost behind her.8. Netumbo wakes up in a solid Afrikan home with a wholesome family that is not dodgy or suspicious, and her husband, Epaphras Denga, is a distinguished citizen with an unquestionable national service record, whose intellectual and ethical instincts are very believable.9. Those who worked with and under her remember her as fair and a boss who is not known to want to hurt others deliberately just to show power. This is not a small feat in Afrikan politics, where trampling on other people&#039;s lives is a demonstration of political power.10. As a mother, a tested public servant, and someone who thinks of the nation more than her own political and financial interests, we can, at this point and under the current circumstances, say with confidence that Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has a heart that beats when others hurt.The spirit of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is, in all fairness, what Namibia needs going forward.We have hurt one another enough. Ethics, empathy, honesty, integrity and a corrupt-free leadership are what is needed right now, if Swapo is to remain a veritable stakeholder in our body politic.Namibia needs a State House resident who can serve instead of being served; a leader with an &#039;ear and not just a mouth&#039;; and a leader who can inspire rather than make everyone afraid.It is time for Netumbo&#039;s message to be heard!Joseph Diescho is a Namibian writer and professor.

Time to heed Netumbo’s message

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-20

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Time to heed Netumbo’s message

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-20

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