Keyword: Namibia

How the ANC and SWAPO Exploit African Insecurities to Stay in Power

Picture: Namibian Presdient Hifikepunye Pohamba; his wife Penehupifo Pohamba; First Lady Bongi Zuma and President Jacob Zuma courtesy GCIS Alexander O'Riordan - From the outside Namibia looks just like South Africa with vast and growing income inequalities, high unemployment and a national politics dominated by their liberation struggle as well as a colonial and pre-independence history, as if not more brutal than South Africa’s. Political appointments dominate the executive with payoffs to former exiles and veterans an open secret and rumours of unchecked corruption part of everyday conversation. Unlike in South Africa, however, the ruling...

Namibia's Gender Zebra

Picture: Libertina Appolus Amathila, Namibia Alexander O'Riordan - A quiet gender revolution the like of which has been unseen in Southern Africa and perhaps anywhere in the world, is now firmly underway in Namibia. The ruling party, SWAPO has not only committed to filling half of its seats in parliament with women but also committed to what they call a ‘Zebra system’ whereby if a Minister is a woman then the Deputy Minister will be a man and vice versa. Even more ambitiously, the implication is that the roles will be switched in successive...