The irony of national interests against foreign influence

In his book, My Life in the SA Defence Force, Magnus Malan (2006), the former South African chief of the army and minister of defence, observed in a standoff between the South African government and Washington in the 1970s that the latter has no friends, but self-interests.

It was Malan who arrested the founding president in March 1966 with the pilot on the plane from Lusaka, putting to rest the alwayssung rhetoric that the Swapo leader was accompanied by former president Hifikepunye Pohamba.

Whatever the truth about the occupants of the plane is now thrown into the bin of history. Regarding American interests, Perkins (2004) a former American economic hit man in his book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, details how the USA uses highly-trained professionals to cheat countries out of trillions by using fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, and entices them to accept enormous loans for infra structure development.

If American interests are being threatened, the US military moves into the country, and forcefully and militarily removes the leader.

This happened to Panama of Noriega in

1989, Saddam Hussein of Iraq in 2003, and with Gaddafi of Libya in 2011. Unlike in the Western world, it is mainly the national security that is almost absent in many African countries. The case of the African Union is a case in point, a continental body, which should be at the forefront of safeguarding its people, but dismally failing to do so.

A good example is the case of economic refugees fleeing from West African countries, only to be bought and enslaved in Libya and Morocco.

Despite these incidents, the African continent fails to utter a single word of protest against the countries implicated in this scam. This is strange and astonishing because Africa spoke with one voice during the colonial period to protest for the release of its children from slavery and oppression. In the Namibian context, it becomes almost difficult to translate its national interests because of many factors.

For the whole country to be in protest because of the Supreme Court's constitutional ruling to allow people of same-sex marriage to stay in Namibia is hard to comprehend what Namibians as a nation consider to be national interests. Whereas I do not hold views supporting same-sex marriages, the judges simply followed the constitutional provision. There is a need to clarify which norms are foreign and which ones are not, because the majority of Namibians' lifestyles are Western-oriented.

Go into many Namibian homes, and you will be shocked to learn that the children in those families cannot speak their vernaculars, but are well-versed in the languages of the oppressors.

Is this trend and state of affairs African or Western? One of the reasons why the West keeps on humiliating Africans is the lack of consistency in their national interests.

How can one explain a situation where an African political leader is bent on criminalising same-sex marriages, but suffocates political freedom? In the process, even young childrenarekilledinthenameofnational security. Some African countries enact laws shortly before elections to either silence the opposition, or send the leaders of the contesting parties to prison.

What is more important here: saving the lives of the young children who are caught in the fight for political hegemony, or the rights of same-sex marriages?

Two weeks ago, 16 people died of poisoning emanating from lack of food in Kayova village, yet no Namibian protested because the government is relaxing on its responsibilities.

The unemployment rate has skyrocketed to almost 50%, yet the affected youth are only mumbling without any protest. Add the high rate of corruption in this country, yet it becomes an abomination and taboo to talk about it. Take it a step further that there are still alleged secessionist inmates who have been languishing in prison for more than 22 years now, yet without any sign of being released soon. Article 12 (1) (a) of the Constitution on fair trial states that in the determination of their civil rights and obligations or any criminal charges against them, all persons shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent, impartial and competent Court or Tribunal established by law. (b) A trial referred to in Sub-Article (a) hereof shall take place within a reasonable time, failing which the accused shall be released. Those who were found not guilty after being imprisoned for decades have not been compensated for unlawful detention.

If it was during the colonial period, many people, including the churches, would be making noise to release them.

What a country is this one! We have just forgotten what people went through at the hands of the oppressive colonisers 33 years ago. Nobody condones lawlessness, but the period of incarceration has been too long, to qualify for political pardon. A country which just emerged from colonialism and seeking peaceful co-existence among all its people should not cherish revenge, but push for reconciliatory overtones (Mazrui, 1990). Whereas the courts are handling the case, ways and means could be sought to engage the prisoners. This should not be interpreted as interference in the judiciary system, as there can be incidents in which the heads of political institutions can intervene in such cases. These incidents can be tackled through the political will, determination and commitment to the challenges facing the nation. Maybe the beautiful ones are not yet born, as per Ayi Kwei Armah (1968)'s book.