By: Kandjengo kaMkwaanyooka
Parliamentarians are all over the place, consulting and engaging – Swakopmund has been the hive of meetings for the past two months.
Other governmental and non-governmental institutions are holding seminars/conferences, B2Bs, and all sorts of meetings on oil and gas, green hydrogen, and also in agriculture.
In a season of engagements, everyone with a position wants to talk and consult the community or the public. There are endless dialogues happening around the country, and parliamentarians are visiting every corner of the country, familiarising themselves with the socio-economic status quo.
Ironically, even those who have been in government are familiarising themselves with existing issues that have been documented countless times. Moreover, the country’s statistics agency has documented and statistically presented the socioeconomic status quo of the country.
Perhaps it is our ignorance, and our hate for numbers, that we barely consult them to get the picture, so that we don’t travel around. The key question now with all the travelling is, are we truly engaging to get the true picture of issues on the ground and act decisively? Otherwise, it becomes a political gimmick or voter buying. Knowing how Namibians go with hype and political statements, we have to engage effectively.
To the public, are you just clapping hands and singing songs? We need to be able to get in a serious zone where we question our leaders beyond our political party solidarity. The public needs to stop talking and engaging with political affiliation considerations. After the election, they become your social and economic leaders who are supposed to serve and solve your issues.
All these consultative meetings must be used to usher in a new era in our policymaking approach. Parliamentarians and technocrats now have a better picture of the country’s socio-issues as statistically documented by the NSA to go amend, repeal, and draft the right policies and laws. Thus, the question stands: are these costly engagements going to inform the country’s direction or the economic dynamics?
The answer is on the authenticity of those engaging and those attending these consultative meetings; what is being discussed, and how honest are we towards ourselves? If we waste these opportunities and our public funds to be dishonest in our engagements, there won’t be more of these discussions as the politicians who double as policymakers go back to their offices. Enough time must be allocated to the communities/public to speak their minds, policymakers should refrain from giving speeches, and rather take note of public concerns and suggestions.
Parliamentarians and all the technocrats accompanying them must refrain from running around for the sake of ticking off places around the country, and the public must be truly engaged by giving them enough time to voice their thoughts.
These engagements can shape policymakers’ mindsets and adopt a more inclusive approach of a handholding economic model that preaches less foreign investment, but enables local entrepreneurs and investors to solve issues.
Engagements must not be used as political visibility tools, but as a way of getting ground experience and communicating with the masses effectively to ensure their views and social issues are known.
The engagements being observed between policymakers and the public are vital, especially in an economic setting where most of our laws were made without most of Namibians’ consent (colonial times).
Thus, it is vital to go to parliament with the right mindset and understanding of critical issues related to economic development. To avoid political debates and intellectual discourses that have ineffective impact or change the policy structures.
A new model of economic building grounded and shaped by the realities of many Namibians is needed – it needs thinkers and policymakers who are well informed. And the various engagements across the country are key to better enlightenment.
These are Kandjengo’s personal views and they do not reflect this newspaper or the editorial. To engage him on this piece, email: gerastus16@gmail.com
