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 the reform of laws is paralleled with and by a determined and purposeful act.
To not only identify at the same time laws that are outdated. but policies as well the papers on which they are enshrined and encapsulated, are not gathering dust on the shelves of many public offices. Besides for some of them being long forgotten altogether if willfully not shoved under the desks. Because what meets more than the eye, it is not only a matter of lack of laws, and/or laws needing amending but ultimately just inaction by those who need to put them into practice. Meaning implementing them.
One typical example are the recommendations from the 2018 Second National Land Conference, many if not most, which, despite being lost in translation, remain unimplemented. Like the recommendation pertaining to the resettlement of the land dispossessed, specifically the descendants of the survivors of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama Genocide, who in terms of land dispossession and loss, and thus beneficiation from resettlement. Who have now been co-mingled with other would-be beneficiaries who have never lost land through colonial dispossession or/and to the same extent by any other form of dispossession to the same degree and extent as those whose land was expropriated by German colonial authority.
Lands, which subsequently over the years have been passing hands from one to the other previously advantaged, meaning one or the other Caucasian. Name all administrations subsequent to Imperial Germany’s administration, and after the Apartheid South Africa’s occupation administration in the then South West Africa, all of them had been passing lands from one of their own to the other and next. Through deliberately socially, economically and legally engineered designs, mechanisms and policies. A situation, which to this day in a post-independence Namibia has not changed.
But instead has been entrenched, somehow with some previously disadvantaged indigenes, never dispossessed of their land or having lost it in one way or the other during colonialism, now being, as the most-favoured indigenes by administrations, beneficiaries of resettlement.
This has been at the expense of fellows equally previously disadvantaged but less –favoured. This is and has not been a matter of the absence and/or lack of policies and/or laws. The laws and policies may have been in existence, and certainly do exist because land re-allocation has been taking place, not illegally but legally and procedurally. Of course with the twisting and manipulation and/or misapplication of the relevant laws and policies.
As well as their injudicious implementation, selectively to benefit a selected few by the hegemonic class that has been in charge, politically, policy environment and in the civil service, and many other spheres of the Namibian socio-economic spectrum, to benefit their own hegemonic kind and self.
It goes without saying that as long as the political and ideological tribal class remains in charge, changing the laws and/or policies would be of no consequence. It must be accompanied by a political and ideological paradigm shift. Where resources are redistributed and reallocated not on the basis and according to one’s tribal and/or political origin, affiliation, allegiance and attachment, but one’s needs, considering one’s historical legacy.
Like dispossession, as the case may be, with respect to those whose land was taken away and plundered by German colonialists. For the resettlement of colonial Germany’s settlers.
At a time when the world, and in particular Africa is mourning one of its foremost novelists and academic , Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Yours Truly Ideologically, shall be remiss in his ideological mission and vision, not to mention him as a way of paying tribute to him. One of his widely read and loved books is Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Languages in African Literature. Which is critical to Namibia at this stage when she is grappling with indigenous languages in schools. Recalling the ongoing debacle at the Auas Primary School in Windhoek, when and where one of the hegemonic principles, the principal of the school herself, has been fingered for engineering that Khoekhoegowab be done away with. Despite the catchment area of the school being predominantly Khoekhoegowab.
To replace it instead with her own hegemonic language. Typifying Wa Thiong’o’s ideology of language being a tool of colonisation. In this case in our modern day independent Namibia, a tool of hegemony. A report by teachers at the school just released has confirmed that indeed KhoeKhoegowab at this particular school has been marginalised.
Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senate Steenkamp, besides for the Auas saga, has also lately been in the news expressing herself regarding the state of teaching of indigenous language in schools, especially the lack of teachers. Plus the apparent reluctance of parents to have their children taught in their mother tongues. But can that really be problematic ? NO!NO! Among them being Afrikaans. As if Afrikaans has not been one of the hegemonic languages since the dawn of colonialism and continues to be. Thereby, indeed continuing Afrikaner hegemony as manifested in many ways, even the media, whereby various media stables, broadcasting and print, has stuck to Afrikaans. Not so much to keep the language and culture alive. But indeed to continue the hegemony of the Afrikaners, which extends to the economy as well.
One wonders if the powers that be, including Steenkamp, who is no stranger and alien to education, are aware that Afrikaans is still ruling the roost in many of the government schools in suburban Windhoek. Which are no longer for whites-only when the Afrikaans language reigned supreme. A situation which remains with hardly any indigenous black languages being taught in these schools, if any at all.
A clear perpetuation of cultural-language hegemony of just one cultural group. With PRIVATE Afrikaans medium schools becoming the norm in this mode of language and cultural hegemony of the Afrikaners, if not all Caucasians.
Thus as onerous as NNN’s intent may be in reforming the laws for better services delivery, it may not be as simple and straightforward as it may look and sound. Not forgetting that most of the pertaining laws and policies and what—have-you, are there as pillars and foundations of a given socio-economic order, Capitalism, which NNN and company has never contemplated, let alone tampered with.
