Namibians Demand a Big Intervention: The Truth, for Its Own Sake For far too long, Namibia has endured a suffocating silence surrounding its dark past. The weight of the atrocities committed during the colonial era and the liberation struggle has cast a long shadow over the nation. However, a growing chorus of voices is demanding a bold intervention, a resounding call for truth and accountability. The Namibian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in 1998 to address the horrors of the past. While it achieved some progress, its work was far from comprehensive. The TRC focused primarily on documenting individual human rights violations, leaving systemic and institutional wrongdoing largely unaddressed. Today, Namibians are demanding more. They want a thorough and transparent investigation into the root causes of the past violence, including the role played by both perpetrators and victims. They demand a full disclosure of the truth, not just for the sake of historical accuracy, but also for the sake of healing and reconciliation. The consequences of this lingering silence have been profound. Namibian society continues to be plagued by deep divisions, mistrust, and lingering resentment. Many victims and survivors have never received proper acknowledgment or reparations for their suffering. Without a comprehensive understanding of the past, it is impossible to build a truly just and equitable society. Those who oppose a big intervention often argue that it would reopen old wounds and hinder progress. However, suppressing the truth only perpetuates the cycle of injustice and division. As Desmond Tutu famously said, “Without forgiveness, there is no future; without truth, there is no forgiveness.” Namibia has a moral and ethical obligation to face its past head-on. A big intervention would not only expose the horrors that took place but also create a space for healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It would allow the nation to finally break free from the shackles of its history and forge a path towards a brighter future. The demand for a big intervention is not just about the past; it is about the present and the future. By exposing the truth, Namibia can liberate itself from the chains of secrecy and build a society where every citizen feels valued and respected. For its own sake, Namibia deserves nothing less.Lahja NashuutaLahja Nashuuta Eighteen-year-old Frederick Fredericks should be in school. But here he is, seen on a school day, sunbathing outside his one-bedroom wooden hut with a steel sheet roof in the Omitara settlement. Fredericks attended school at the Otjivero Combined School until the ninth grade. We are made to understand that this would not have been possible without the intervention of the Basic Income Subsidy (BIG) pilot project, carried out in Otjivero-Omitara, about 100 kilometers east of Windhoek. In 2008, all residents under the age of 60 received a HUGE subsidy of 100 Namibian dollars per person per month. Fredericks and his family of seven were among the beneficiaries at the time. This meant that the family received 800 Namibian dollars. This grant, he recalled, was very useful. However, when the grant ended, his parents could not afford to enroll him in high school elsewhere because there was no money to pay for transportation or his other basic needs, including food and toiletries. “I want to continue my studies and one day be a doctor. But my parents can’t afford to send me to school,” Fredericks said with pain in her eyes. His single mother works as a maid on a nearby farm. As minuscule as the N$800 a month may seem, her mother used to cover all household expenses with the combined grant. “Every month, my mother used to make a budget for how she would spend that money, and there was a huge difference in our house. We started with N$100, then reduced it to N$80 and then stopped. In winter, like this, it was difficult to spot a child without a shirt, shoes or complete uniform. We all had to have clothes and, by then, there was happiness in Omitara. People’s bills were paid on time. BIG really helped a lot of families.”
he said. However, as the BIG intervention came to an end, many in Omitara found themselves swimming in a sea of ​​poverty, with no hope in sight. “In the absence of BIG, many people live in poverty. (The) young people are bitter and abuse alcohol and drugs. We are fighting. Not jobs; There is no food in the house,” he lamented. However, not all hope is lost. There is talk of a BIG proposal of 500 Namibian dollars, with which his family will be able to cover their basic daily needs again. Hopefully, then he could also revive his academic career. Not only Another Omitara resident, Julia Nekwaya, described a bleak future for the youth in the absence of the BIG. “It is a well-known fact that our people are suffering, which is why in 2008, the government decided to use the area to test the BIG project,” she recalled. He said that although 100 Namibian dollars may not seem like much, it meant everything to them during that pilot period. “With that money, before people contributed to buy food, unlike now when families depend on a single breadwinner,” Nekwaya emphasized. Lawsuits Over the weekend, hundreds of Namibians took to the streets, calling on the government to introduce a monthly payment of N$500 to all unemployed citizens aged 0-59 to address poverty in the country. The peaceful march was organized by the Namibia Basic Income Subsidies Coalition. It received 3,589 signatures in support of the immediate implementation of a universal basic income grant in Namibia. Armed only with signs with different demands, most of the youth emphasized their ongoing struggles, unemployment, lack of decent housing, clean water and sanitation. The petition was received by the Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Doreen Sioka, on behalf of President Nangolo Mbumba, in which the protesters demanded that the government fulfill its constitutional obligation by actively promoting and maintaining the welfare of the citizenry. Rinaani Musutua, BIG campaign coordinator, told attendees that the march was aimed at drawing the government’s attention to addressing generational poverty and unemployment in the country. “We decided to organize a march to make sure the government understood that people were tired of fighting. Leaders must know that people are tired of having to go through bins and garbage to find food, while we have a government that is supposed to take care of the people,” Musutua said.++“The problem we face as a country is that we have more than 1.6 million people living in poverty. If you do the math, that means more than half of the country lives in poverty. But there are reports that more than 1,700 Namibians have N$400 billion between them.In this way, this country has a lot of inequality, and this inequality is due to past mistakes, which have not yet been addressed. And until we address some of those past mistakes, unfortunately, our people will continue to suffer,” said currency trader-turned-politician Michael Amushelelo, who also joined the protest. Musutua maintained: “Young people, who are mainly affected by unemployment, are the majority and most important people in our country. Therefore, it is necessary to secure its future.++“Our leaders must commit to implementing an unconditional and universal BIG as a youth-focused social protection scheme to support unemployed youth and promote youth development.” “The monthly rent subsidy is not a new topic in the discourse. If we have to go back to Covid-19, the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, made it clear that basic needs require at least N$250 per week, and around.
1,050 Namibian dollars a month, and that was four years ago. Therefore, the N$500 advocated by the coalition is reasonable because it is half of what the Finance Minister indicated. The government can increase this subsidy over time,” said labor researcher and social justice activist Herbert Jauch.++Upon receiving the petition, Sioka informed the people that he would hand it over to Mbumba for further consideration.++“I will take his request to the president and, since his demands belong to my ministry, we will sit down and inform him how far we have come. You are the ones who put us in government and there is nowhere you can go to cry except on the shoulders of this government,” he noted. *[email protected]* 2024-06-18++Correspondent