21 November 2008
opinion
PRIME Minister Nahas Angula and Minister of Works and Transport Helmut Angula, who spearheaded the MCA process as the former director general of the National Planning Commission, scored a pyrrhic victory this week over their dissenters, the Swapo Youth League (SPYL).
Angula tabled the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact in Parliament for ratification without consulting the Youth League, which has to be credited with creating a sufficiently loud stir to ensure that the fine print of the deal with the US was put on the table for public debate and discussion.
The majority of MPs present in Parliament voted in favour of adoption of the MCA and the matter was settled once and for all, or, at least, so it would seem.
The Namibian believes that interests drive deals or cause their collapse.
In the case of the MCA, the grant was given at a time when Namibia was arguably in need of foreign donors.
On the surface, the Namibian Government has good relations with the present US government.
Bush and his diplomatic, economic and military advisers know that Africa's resources are many and varied.
To continue to tap into the continent's resource base, a gift of money to Namibia is a stepping stone to other possibilities.
We have little doubt that this is what was at the nub of the urgency to get the compact ratified by our Parliament.
Put differently, the US government has put sufficient pressure on our leading politicians to accept the grant before Bush walks off into the sunset.
The MCA deal is a feather is his cap and has to been seen as such.
Securing the political kingdom to ensure future economic returns may be exactly what the US is after.
It was not for nothing that the Prime Minister tackled the criticism that US firms would receive preferential treatment in MCA deals and tenders.
While Angula admitted that the US initially requested this, he also stated that the Americans had subsequently backed down on this point.
But back at the ranch - the Swapo headquarters - things are far from settled.
The different factions jostling for political control of the ruling party are quietly digging in their heels, despite the verbal bluster of Minister Jerry Ekandjo that "there is no in-fighting in Swapo".
Strategy about next year's election seems to be at the top of the agendas of the local hardliners in Swapo, and The Namibian has it on excellent authority that the adversarial comrades are now keeping things very close to their chests.
The war for the heart and soul of Swapo Party has begun with a few skirmishes, most notably the TransNamib strike and now the fallout over the MCA.
Political heads are yet to roll and the strategic plan could well be that the presidential incumbent "will be allowed to see out his term", unlike what happened to Thabo Mbeki in South Africa.
For Namibians, whatever we think of the Youth League, we have to acknowledge that it had the courage to question the fine print of the MCA deal.
However, it is essential that questioning of a plan or process should not be allowed to wreck or cripple the Government, and/or allow the country to descend into anarchy.
If nothing else, this saga shows the necessity for our Government to be 'on the ball', do its homework from the outset, and thoroughly scrutinise ALL deals of this nature, from wherever they come, to ensure they are in our national interests.
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