The future of the country looks bright, despite Shejavali’s concerns
By Hans-Daniel K. Iileka

This opinion is a rebuttal to the tribally oriented concern opined by Dr. Abisai Shejavali Namibia. He is rightly so entitled to his views and concerns by the Namibian Constitution, but he used a wrong argument as a launching pedestal for his concerns. He indicted the Namibian Political leadership which he said “has no fear of God and there is much inclination towards selfishness”. It is unfortunate that his divisive tone and tribal preaching are from a purported clergyman. Well, Dr. Shejavali should know that he is not God’s High Legal Counsel in Namibia vested with powers to determine who is a God fearing person and who is not. Has the Rev. Dr. Shejavali forgotten the biblical scripture on The Namibian Readers’ Letters, page 28 of Friday, March 5, 2010. Through that unusually lengthy, but published letter, Dr. Shejavali expressed his apparent concerns about the future of the country, Namibia. He is rightly so entitled to his views and concerns by the Namibian Constitution, but he used a wrong argument as a launching pedestal for his concerns. He indicted the Namibian Political leadership which he said “has no fear of God and there is much inclination towards selfishness”. Well, Dr. Shejavali should know that he is not God’s High Legal Counsel in Namibia vested with powers to determine who is a God fearing person and who is not. Has the Rev. Dr. Shejavali forgotten the biblical scripture: “judge not for the judgment you give is the judgment you get”? Or is he not aware, which for sure he is, that in prophesy of Prophet Isaiah, it is said “the offspring of Jesse will not Judge by what his eyes see”? What informed Dr. Shejavali to arrive at the concerns that the political leadership of Namibia has no fear of God? What overwhelming evidence Dr. Shejavali has to substantiate his wild allegations? God passes judgment on individual deeds and there is no spiritual proof that he has or will outsource the powers to pass judgment to Dr. Shejavali. We thought that Dr. Shejavali was a man of God just like any other spiritual leader, but he appears to have promoted himself a level up.

Each society recognizes the role of spiritual leaders to unite people, but when a spiritual leader becomes a source of division of societal organic unity because of his tribal inclinations, then he compromises his spiritual leadership. No one can tell what relationship Dr. Shejavali has with God, that is left to God and it is Him only to decide, the same applies to the political leadership of Namibia. Therefore, the concern of Dr. Shejavali is spiritually misguided.

Dr. Shejavali went on to claim that the results of the November Presidential and National Assembly elections amounted to have been rigged purportedly due to what he cited as “violation of human rights and freedoms took place during all phases of these elections”.

Dr. Shejavali, the above is not a spiritual interpretation of the situation you described. The advice is “know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. However, Dr. Shejavali should not school himself in believing that just because he carries and reads the bible everyday makes him a sole shareholder in the bank of truth. By the way of interpretation, the above quoted allegations sound as if they were made by a political activist and not from the thoughts and conscience of a spiritual leader. A spiritual leader would approach the issue from an objective perspective. Just because the results of the elections at some polling stations weren’t posted outside the polling station does not make the political leadership guilty of rigging election or automatically amounts to no fear of God. There are certain factors to be taken into consideration in order for a person to make an informed indictment of a process. In the first place, Dr. Shejavali has to provide irrefutable proof that there was indeed a communication from the political leadership either written or spoken that the results of elections must not be posted outside the polling station. If the Presiding officers and those who were assigned at a particular polling station were incompetent to such extend that they did not post the result as stipulated by the Electoral Act of 1992 as amended, then the guilt is due to them and if Dr. Shejavali wants them prosecuted for not respecting the laws then he must say so. Dr. Shejavali, it is trusted that you know the difference between truth and lies, then tell the truth. Dr. Shejavali also alluded to a clear abuse of power just because the results took a week to be announced. Has he tried to find out why the results took a week to be announced? Does he know that at every polling station there were party agents and observers monitoring the counting and that there were arguments by party agents with regards to every ballot paper whether it belongs to this or that party or spoilt or rejected. Tell us, Dr. Shejavali, if you were in charge of ECN would you announce the results if some polling stations have not yet forwarded their results? ECN has shortcomings, which they have to improve on, but to claim that the political leadership twisted justice for their own benefit and thereby leaving the nation disappointed is overstretching the case beyond the mark. Dr. Shejavali also singled out the SWAPO-Party leadership and left out the opposition leadership. You appear to be a preacher of the Gospel of the opposition which they have synchronized in your brain. Shortcomings can come from any angle, including from members of the opposition working for ECN. Should we assume that Dr. Shejavali is personally disappointed because the party he supports and voted for in the 2009 election does not enjoy the widespread support as he thought would be the case? The abuse of powers happens in many ways including a person allowing his name to be used to express the thoughts written by others and purportedly claims to speak on behalf of people who had not authorized him/her to do so. Dr. Shejavali, Namibia is Namibia and Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe these are two different countries with different socio-economic dynamics and needs.

What evidence has Dr. Shejavali to claim that the government has no fear of God and as a consequence it cannot do justice to its people? Our Constitution has clearly stated that “Namibia is established as a sovereign, secular, democratic and unitary State founded upon the principles of democracy, the rule of law and justice for all”. While fear of God is an Article of faith between God and an individual, nowhere in our Constitution, is the fear of God cited as the basic of foundation of the State. Is there something like collective punishment and collective redemption of sins? The state provides individuals with rights to practice their faith without restrictions or persecution, provided individuals do not become destructive towards the normal way of life of other members of the society. Which of the above could Dr. Shejavali provide irrefutable proof that the government has not respected the rights of the people to the extent that it should be classified as a sin against God? Once again, it is only God and Him alone who can pass judgment and Dr. Shejavali should be reminded that he is not a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of God.

The next point addresses Dr. Shejavali’s political activism. Dr. Shejavali should be reminded that “the public money being used to pay expensive lawyers” to what he alluded to as “naked injustice” was not out of government’s choice, but it had to because certain Parties had lodged an application to challenge the results of the elections. The fact of the matter is that Dr. Shejavali is highly subjective and this seemed to be an obstacle to his objective thinking. This would be elaborated later on to substantiate the assumption of Dr. Shejavali’s subjective and tribal inclination.

Dr. Shejavali further cited what he termed as lack of respect by political leaders for the Namibian Constitution. Dr. Shejavali should be reminded that at no point had SWAPO opposed creation of political parties and that is a fact, what SWAPO opposes are people forming their tribal oriented parties and tell lies about SWAPO. I am sure if a person is to break away from the church which Dr. Shejavali belongs and start accusing that Church of practicing voodoo religion and or some kinds of faith based on dishonesty, he will be forced to defend his Church. No one expects Informanté to write anything about Dr. Shejavali since they share the same tribal oriented thinking and are kind of mouth-piece of the opposition parties. To Dr Shejavali any squabble between people has to be viewed along tribal lines. Tribally inclined thinking people always see the actions of other people through their own deeds, because that what pre-occupies their minds. Let us refresh the mind of Dr. Shejavali that SWAPO reacted to the formation of RDP the same way it reacted to the formation of CoD, but emphasis has to be made that SWAPO is not opposed to the formation of parties. However, the orchestrated lies that the newly formed parties tell about SWAPO is what make members of SWAPO want to set the record straight. About clashes between supporters of SWAPO and RDP those are individual matters and if Dr. Shejavali has burden of proof to show policy evidence with records in which intimidation of RDP is clearly stated and who are the implementing agents of the intimidation policy.

Dr. Shejavali was silent when Nyamu of RDP organised armed members or RDP to attend a political rally at Outapi with weapons. That entails that he condones the selective morality. During the apartheid regime, intimidation was institutionalised and the security and law enforcement agencies were the implementing tools of that policy. Is Dr. Shejavali suggesting that the security and law enforcement agencies are used in the same fashion as those of apartheid era? If his answer is affirmative, then he is perhaps living in a different country, hence his misplaced concern about a country in his nightmare. Does he also suggest that all security force members are members of SWAPO? SWAPO members have also been intimidated, there are well-known cases of SWAPO members being denied to wear their party colours at funerals and one person who has been advancing this is none than Dr. Shejavali. He now wants to assert that RDP members have the right to display their colours while he is opposed to SWAPO members displaying their colours. In the recent by-election at Okahandja, the posters of SWAPO and those of its candidates where removed from the poles, but has Dr. Shejavali made any comments on that or is he only interested in RDP? If Dr. Shejavali is an RDP member let him say so without using God to advance his political activism. Dr. Libertine Amathila has been very vocal in advancing the plight of vulnerable members of our society, no where is she acknowledged in Dr. Shejavali’s letter. It appears Dr. Shajavali is only concerned about the future based on tribal orientation. If Dr. Shejavali wants to become a spokesperson on tribal matters he may wish to go to the tribal palaces and be appointed as such. There are other platforms which a person of his calibre could use to address his concerns such as the Traditional Council. If that happens then he will be accepted as part of advocacy groups and we will have no problem with that. The Church and Tribe have been used before by colonialists, to divide the African people and to destroy their traditions. It is alarming when a supposed man of the cloth is using such tactics to advance his objectives and that of his party.

Dr. Shejavali, people stay in foreign countries is for different reasons. Why is it that, if our leaders do not give room to young men and women of Africa, we have people relocating from countries like the USA, Germany, UK to Africa even here in Namibia. We have people from those countries living here some as citizens while others are on Permanent residence. Dr. Shejavali you may wish to go to UNAM and find out how many US citizens are there, names cannot be mentioned here, but Dr. Shejavali should have courage to make his own findings, before going further with his tirades. About Matthew Gowaseb and claims of being undermined, Dr. Shejavali is stooping very low in order to advance the agenda of certain people. Dr. Shejavali has suddenly forgotten that Mathew Gowaseb has a membership position in SWAPO, as part of the SWAPO Think Tank; the very party that he is accusing of having only leaders who do not have any fear of God. Does that mean Gowaseb is the only God fearing person in SWAPO? Or what makes him different from the others? Dr. Shejavali the case between NBC is not different from other institutions, even within the Church there are differences of approaches, you do not have to be reminded about that.

Dr. Shejavali should try as much as possible to rise above tribal thinking and if he is failing then he should pray to God for forgiveness. Who is sowing the destructive seeds of witch-hunting and anti-kwanyamism in SWAPO? Is it President Pohamba who is also the President of SWAPO, or Hon. Dr. Hage Geingob who is Vice-President or Hon. Pendukeni Ithana who is Secretary-General or Hon. Nangolo Mbumba who is Deputy-Secretary General? At which platform are these seeds sown? To the knowledge of everybody SWAPO’s meetings have diverse representation, how can the so-called seeds of witch-hunting be planned by a small group, but endorsed by a larger group? Dr. Shejavali did you write this yourself or did somebody write the said letter on your behalf? If you read that part of witching hunting then I am sure you will agree that a person of your caliber cannot stoop so low to spread rumours created for political expedience. The RDP you referred to has created a lot of rumours, the latest being that there is a plot to poison its leaders with a certain substance similar to a pounder. Dr. Shejavali what you are doing is merely assisting the spreading of politically created rumours by the party which you are trying to defend.

How come a self respecting spiritual leader alleges that SWAPO has started to incite hatred between Ndonga and Kwanyama communities? Dr. Shejavali did you write this with your mind upside down or you are serious about what you are saying, are you listening to yourself? It is shocking that you failed to separate fact from rumours, people who have been spreading these rumours are well known and have done so as part of strategy to gain sympathy for people to join their party. This line is part of the Nyamu notes which Dr. Shejavali is now parroting. It is puzzling to note that Dr. Shejavali believes in tales, how can two communities be incited over a boundary matter by a person who is not well versed with the matter. Can a person from another village incite Dr. Shejavali with his neighbor about the demarcation fence between him and his neighbour, does that make any sense?

Dr. Shejavali not everything you read in the paper is a true reflection of any given situation. The Lilly Johannes case you cited has been wrongly presented again for political expediencies. This case was leaked to the media to fuel rumour which has become characteristic of political opportunists in our country. How does he know that Lily Johannes is Kwanyama speaking? That name does not even have any African origin. It can only be from a source close to the rumour. Actually Dr. Shejavali is becoming a rumour gathering and disseminating leader. The only concern Dr. Shejavali should have is about the state of his mind. If he continues to view the situation in Namibia along tribal lines concocted with rumours then he will only imagine worse case scenarios about Namibia. Dr. Shejavali should know that the country is not built by pessimists, but by optimists. There are those who hope for a brighter future and believe in the resilience of our people irrespective of their places of origin. Dr. Shejavali is being used to cast a shadow of doubt about the future of Namibia. Dr. Shejavali has seriously compromised his objectivity by claiming that “it is no secret about the alleged existence of a group with a hidden agenda within the SWAPO leadership. As most of its alleged adherents are from Omusati Region, the group is being referred to as “Omusati Clique”. Does this fit to come from a religious person who is supposed to preach acceptance? Suddenly he has found it fitting to parrot Nyamu’s hate speech. What Dr. Shejavali said is a repetition of what was said by Nyamu at Outapi during the campaign period for last year Presidential and National Assembly elections. Dr. Shejavali appears to be a message of Nyamu’s hate speech and he is supposedly a religious person. How can a sober minded person accept Dr. Shejavali’s allegation that “this group does not want Kwanyamas to continue living in peace in this land of their birth”? Dr. Shejavali are you implying that there is a group out there that does not want President Pohamba, Governor Usko Nghaamwa, Minister Nghimtina just to mention a few, to live in peace in the land of their birth and you seriously believe in that? What shall we call you if you are ready to stoop so low to parrot words of people who have sworn hatred towards others?

For your information Dr. Shejavali CEOs of towns are not employed based on tribal considerations. Your selection only reveals your own tribal hatred, because you see people according to their tribe and not as Namibians. He is simply obsessed with tribalism that he believes that every leader he sees is from Omusati, perhaps with exception for RDP leaders. No one not even Dr. Shejavali travels abroad on a tribally issued passport, therefore tribal matters should be left to traditional leaders. Dr. Shejavali also went on to, either out ignorance or for whatever reason, say that when “some local people applied to open up a petrol filling station, they were denied the opportunity only to find out later that someone from Omusati Region was given the opportunity”. Dr. Shejavali here your views and facts are totally misplaced, perhaps twisted is the best word to use. The fact is the person you referred is a well known Dr. somebody, who lives in Windhoek and wanted a filling station. The land which Dr. somebody wanted at Eenhana was eventually sold to a well-known business personality from Eenhana (not from Omusati) after the bank refused to grant Dr. Somebody a loan, because he could not raise enough capital, please check with the bank for more information. The person who was given that place is from Ohangwena Region not from Omusati as you hallucinated. Dr. Shejavali either you do not know what you are writing or you are doing it purposely to mislead the nation. So tell us which one of the two? ELCIN Pastors take an oath during ordination not to mislead any of God's sheep under their care. Doesn't Dr. shejavali believe that through spreading divisive rumours and lies, he might be misleading some of God's sheep who look up to him as their spiritual leader for direction?

Are you still committed to the sacred oath you took as a spiritual leader? It appears Dr. Shejavali wants to advance an agenda through the Church, the true Church leaders must seriously read between the lines of Dr. Shejavali’s writings and look at him in line with what he is currently busy with, namely advancement of tribalism in Namibia through digging up politically constructed rumours. Read how he framed the rumours which were squashed by Minister Kaapanda, in support of the rumour he says “momeva ihamu li nyenge ongaho” which he interprets as “there is no smoke without fire”. Dr. Shejavali there are two distinct literal meanings to the proverbs you quoted “momeva ihamu li nyenge ongaho” means “water does not move unless there is something underneath” while “there is no smoke without fire” means “omwifi ihau tsima pwaheena omundilo”. However you deliberate misinterpretation comes as no surprise since you have become so good at misplacing everything.

Dr. Shejavali, weapons cannot be hidden. They are like an elephant in a garden. In the first place, they have to be offloaded either at an airport or sea port and everything offloaded there is recorded together with the means of transportation that brought the cargo. Any good arrives at port of entry will have to go through the hurdles of clearance by customs officials. If you believe in that story check with people working at the ports and find out the truth, or do you want tell us people working at ports of entry are all from Omusati Region? Dr. Shejavali you have really made a cartoon of yourself. No wonder your main sources of information are NSHR, Informante and The Namibian. Ask yourself some soul searching questions about the direction of thinking you are currently taking; are you fulfilling God’s will or your own misguided thinking? When you allow yourself to refer to people as “Omusati Clique” in which spirit are you doing that, National Reconciliation or National Destruction?

Looking at the litany of sins you have committed in just one article from lying, spreading of fear, alarm, hatred amongst others, I must admit that repentance alone will not redeem you. You must be born again.

Let me paraphrase Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) of the USA who remarked that, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, so let that also be that with you, Dr. Shejavali the only concern you should have is about yourself. Do not shed crocodile tears for Namibia, our country’s best days have been witness over the past twenty years and many more better days are still ahead. “Let us not grow weary in doing well, for in due season we shall reap if we do not give up faith”. (Galatians 6:9) As the Founding President Dr. Sam Nujoma always says “a united people striving to achieve common good for all members of the society will always emerge victorious.” The endnote is this: Dr. Shejavali do you believe in the above quote of the Founding President or not and if not, do you believe the Almighty God is for unity or tribalism?

H.D. K. Ileka is a Namibian citizen the views expressed here are entirely his.