Zoom in Hamutenya 2010

By Asser Ntinda

When you are in government, you always wake up and think about what you are going to do. When you are in opposition, you always wake up and think about what you are going to say. Nothing graphically defines the difference between the two than a piece that appeared in a local daily this week. Once again, the President of the Rally for Democracy and Progress, RDP, Hidipo Hamutenya, did justice to that difference.

After a long time without appearing in public or making public statements, Hamutenya wrote an article this week, carefully crafted to coincide with the Supreme Court’s hearing of last year’s election results which RDP and other eight opposition parties are disputing. This time around, he was not just talking about the elections being “rigged.” He had a mouthful too about how “bad and corrupt” the SWAPO Party government was, saying that the current government “is failing to govern this country ably, productively, justly, transparently and fairly.”

He went on: “Over the last 20 years, the government has failed dismally to come up with tangible, coherent and comprehensive strategy for job creation and economic growth. In other words, it has been incapable of responding positively and forcefully to this basic and crying national need. At the same time, our country’s authorities have allowed corruption to become rampant in public institutions so much so that it is very difficult nowadays to talk about accountability in the country’s public sector management.”

It is a mouthful indeed, but coming as it does from Hamutenya who had held various ministerial positions from independence in 1990 until 2004 when he was fired, it just shows how way off the mark the man is. It was under his nose that the Development Brigade Corporation, DBC, collapsed, with millions of money and equipment going missing without him raising a question. He was instrumental in appointing Simon Shikangala to run DBC. After the collapse of DBC, Shinkangala suddenly developed a “short memory” syndrome to evade questions by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into DBC and could no longer “remember some of the decisions” he took while he was in charge of DBC.

As the minister in charge of overseeing the operations and affairs of DBC, Hamutenya “dismally failed” to do so “ably, productively, justly, transparently and fairly,” to quote his own words. He negligently contributed to what he now describes as “Lack of Accountability: A crippling Ill in Our Public Sector Management.” When DBC collapsed, thousands of people lost their jobs.

Of course Hamutenya does not believe what he says. It is all about opposition politics characterized by fatalistic determinism that as long as SWAPO was in power, it would never do anything good for this country.

But interestingly, when he addressed Namibia’s ambassadors, high commissioners and other diplomats in Windhoek on June 2, 2003, Hamutenya was quick to echo and praise the achievements made by the SWAPO Party government since independence. He said: “During the first decade of our independence, we sought to create a conducive climate for doing business in or with Namibia. Now, at the threshold of this second decade of Namibia’s sovereign existence, we have begun to make significant advances in attracting substantial investment. No doubt, Namibia now has an address in the investment community. We have pulled in the Scorpions of this world through aggressive and highly focused targeting of these multi-national giants.”

A year earlier, on April 19, 2002, Hamutenya told the National Assembly that “contrary to the gloomy picture being projected, (by opposition parties) the economy is likely to register relatively high growth during this fiscal year because of the injection of substantial investments in the mining and manufacturing sectors.”

The remarks quoted above show the two faces of Hamutenya sharply contradicting himself. The last two quotes where made when he was a minister, happily and confidently seeing progress and the economy growing. The first two were made recently by a bored, disillusioned and frustrated Hamutenya, hopelessly sinking deeper into opposition politics and seeing nothing but a gloomy future. Surely, Hamutenya cannot be so blind not to see what is happening in the country. Roads, schools, hospitals and clinics are being constructed every year.

Overall, things have improved considerably. Just have a look at the various development projects around the country and you can see progress.

It was you Hamutenya who told the National Assembly in 2002 that “we are committed to see(ing) development taking place in all the 13 regions of our country.” Were you lying, Mr Hamutenya?

Rest assured that our commitment and unmatched resolve to grow the economy remain robust and focused, just as they were when you were a minister. Our long-term objective is to create a better and safer tomorrow. We are heavily investing in that future, cognizant of the fact that resources are limited and the needs are many. Despite limited resources, however, many villages have electricity and potable water. School enrolment has gone up by far.

That is a sign of far-sighted leadership. Namibia needs leaders who can inspire people and offer hope for a better tomorrow against the backdrop of today’s problems of unemployment, poverty and economic inequity.

I know that it is boring being in opposition, more so when one, like Hamutenya, was once at the center of power, but churning out tantrums is no cure for political boredom. Having carelessly relegated himself to the backseat, Hamutenya is no longer forward-looking in his thinking. He is hopelessly stuck in the cul-de-sac of marginal politics. Nothing comes without a price though. Political opportunism, too, comes with a heavy burden – a burden of isolation and loneliness. But as a man makes his bed, so too must he lie.