Opinions

DECENTERING SINGULAR SUFFERING: A PAN-AFRICANIST PERSPECTIVE ON GENOCIDAL MEMORY AND EPISTEMOLOGY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

DECENTERING SINGULAR SUFFERING: A PAN-AFRICANIST PERSPECTIVE ON GENOCIDAL MEMORY AND EPISTEMOLOGY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Abstract                          This article interrogates the Eurocentric hegemony embedded in memorializing the Herero and Nama genocide (1904–1908) as Southern Africa’s singular genocidal event. Drawing on Frantz Fanon’s dialectics of colonial violence and liberation, it argues for a pan-African historical consciousness that centers the interconnected suffering of marginalized groups—including the Ovambandja, San, Ovakwanyama, Lozi, Mbundja, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Xhosa, Zulu including 8 million Congolese who were massacred by the Belgians.   By exposing the colonial logic of hierarchizing suffering, we call for a unified ethics of remembrance that rejects Western-defined exclusivity in justice. Introduction:…
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Decentering singular suffering: a Pan-Africanist perspective on genocidal memory and epistemology in Southern Africa

Decentering singular suffering: a Pan-Africanist perspective on genocidal memory and epistemology in Southern Africa

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Abstract                           This article interrogates the Eurocentric hegemony embedded in memorializing the Herero and Nama genocide (1904–1908) as Southern Africa’s singular genocidal event. Drawing on Frantz Fanon’s dialectics of colonial violence and liberation, it argues for a pan-African historical consciousness that centers the interconnected suffering of marginalized groups—including the Ovambandja, San, Ovakwanyama, Lozi, Mbundja, Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Xhosa, Zulu including 8 million Congolese who were massacred by the Belgians.   By exposing the colonial logic of hierarchizing suffering, we call for a unified ethics of remembrance that rejects Western-defined exclusivity in justice. Introduction:…
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Quo vadis Namibian Revolution?

Quo vadis Namibian Revolution?

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Quo vadis Namibian Revolution? Yours Truly Ideologically cannot but pose this question. Prompted into it after listening to the memorial service of the recently departed Deputy Bishop of the Church of Afrika, Zacharia Zac Ngetujame Makari.  At the time of his departure on Saturday the 30th of  May, a man of cloth. Actually second in command of the Church of Afrika as Deputy Bishop but in charge in the interim following the death of Archbishop Paulus Kandjou early this year. How he  landed behind the pulpit defies logic. Given his radical political outlook nurtured during the South African…
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Immanuel Mulunga’s Labour Court victory: Can you really go back after a bridge has burned?

Immanuel Mulunga’s Labour Court victory: Can you really go back after a bridge has burned?

Dr Rauna Shipena  When Immanuel “Imms” Mulunga won his Labour Court case against the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), many assumed this marked the end of a turbulent chapter. But the question still hangs heavily in the air: What now? Despite a clear ruling in his favour, Mulunga has received no word from his former employer. “They have not reached out to me yet,” he told The Namibian. “I don’t think I’m wanted, to be honest.” This is more than just a workplace dispute. It’s a complex story of broken governance systems, corporate retaliation, strained professional relationships and perhaps,…
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The forgotten architect of education – Why Namibia must honour Nahas Angula

The forgotten architect of education – Why Namibia must honour Nahas Angula

Sakaria Johannes  In Namibia’s journey from colonialism to independence, many names have been etched into history. But not all of them have been celebrated equally. One such overlooked figure is Nahas Gideon Angula, a key architect of Namibia’s education system and a quiet giant of nation-building. Angula served as Namibia’s first Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport after independence in 1990. Tasked with dismantling the apartheid-era education system, he led the transformation toward an inclusive and equitable system that aimed to serve all Namibians, not just a privileged few. Under his leadership, sweeping reforms were introduced. A new national…
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HPV Vaccination Rollout—Safe, Effective, and Powered by Gardasil 4

HPV Vaccination Rollout—Safe, Effective, and Powered by Gardasil 4

Dr. BD Platt Medical history has taught us that vaccination has remained one of the most successful stories of the 21st century. It is safe to say that no other medical intervention has revolutionised healthcare and global quality of life as much as safe vaccination. Perhaps only the dawn of antibiotic usage remains a close second. Dreaded viral diseases once rampant and incurable, have many been relegated to the aisles of medical history books through active effective vaccination. If I could rewind perhaps our memories back to the 1980s, Small pox; a dreaded disease that once debilitated human for centuries…
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Namibian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the United Democratic Party’s quest for the independence of Caprivi

Namibian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the United Democratic Party’s quest for the independence of Caprivi

Lazarus Kwedhi The United Democratic Party’s (UDP) push for the so-called independence of Caprivi, hereafter referred to as the Zambezi Region—separating it from Namibia—is not a democratic right under Namibia’s constitutional democracy. It is, in fact, an act of treason against the Namibian state.  The Namibian Defence Force has a constitutional duty to protect the country’s territorial integrity, and it must do so without hesitation against the UDP’s secessionist attempts to divide Namibia. If not, it is a bad precedent to seek to destabilise national peace and has the potential to compromise the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The independence…
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Honoring the Titan, Interrogating the Legacy: Nujoma and the Art of Brinkmanship

Honoring the Titan, Interrogating the Legacy: Nujoma and the Art of Brinkmanship

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Windhoek recently witnessed a familiar ritual: the honoring of a giant. The launch of a lavish coffee table and Pictorial book celebrating Founding Father Sam Shafiishuna Nujoma served as a potent reminder of the liberation generation – those figures across our continent who stared into the abyss of colonial power and dared it to blink. Attended by Namibia’s political and business elite, the event pulsed with reverence for the man synonymous with the nation’s birth. Yet, beneath the veneer of celebratory unity, deeper, more unsettling questions stirred about legacy, leadership, and…
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Would NNN’s laws, policies’ reforms be daring enough to rock Capitalism?

Would NNN’s laws, policies’ reforms be daring enough to rock Capitalism?

Kae Matundu These days one sees the top brass scurrying around to get on the law reform bandwagon as announced recently by Her Excellency, Netumbo Nandi-Ndeitwah (NNN), in a bid and attempt see changes in laws for the better delivery of public services.  On the face of it, and if it is not  just a  matter of a new broom trying to sweep clean, seeing and ensuring the  delivery of services, and/or for that matter the betterment of public services, is indeed a commendable intent. But with hindsight Yours Truly Ideologically cannot but think loudly if such a call for…
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The potential in organising poultry producers to enhance local production

The potential in organising poultry producers to enhance local production

Hanks Saisai  According to the Namibian Poultry Producers' Association (PPA), the Namibian poultry industry 's production value reached N$1.74 billion in 2024, representing an approximate 13% increase from the N$1.5 billion recorded in 2023. The sector now stands as the second-largest contributor to Namibia's agricultural production, trailing only the cattle industry, which recorded an estimated N$3.2 billion in 2024, according to the PPA. With poultry products (eggs and meat) being among the most affordable protein sources for many households in Namibia, this presents an ideal opportunity for local poultry farmers to get organised and enjoy a fair market share of…
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