Windhoek — After 12 years as Namibia's foreign minister, Theo-Ben Gurirab was unexpectedly elevated to the post of prime minister on August 27, 2002 by President Sam Nujoma, replacing Hage Geingob. Nujoma, 74, who has been president since independence in 1990, offered no public explanation for removing Geingob, who was considered a leading candidate to succeed him.
Gurirab served for 14 years as the United Nations representative for the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo) petitioning for Namibian independence from South Africa and for four years before independence as the movement's foreign secretary. During his tenure as foreign minister, he served a term as president of the United Nations General Assembly. Born in 1939 in Usakos, Namibia, Gurirab earned a teaching diploma from the Augustineum Training College in Okahandja and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1969 from Temple University in Philadelphia.
During a recent interview with AllAfrica's Reed Kramer in his office in Windhoek, Prime Minister Gurirab discussed the government's record since 1990 and the challenges that the country faces today. Excerpts:
Your country doesn't get a lot of media attention, so what are the accomplishments that you believe merit international recognition.
Namibia has done quite well since we proclaimed independence on 21 March, 1990. We have created viable national institutions, not only in terms of the Cabinet and Parliament and judiciary. But we have also created a three-tier government - the central government, which operates from the capital, Windhoek, regional governments and the local authorities. These include municipalities, towns [and] villages. We reach out as far as we can in the rural areas to involve people in decision-making.
We also have by now realized that economic progress - the productivity of our economy, employment creation, capacity building, investment in human capital - these things can come about only through partnership, partnership between the government and the private sector , the labor unions, very active grassroots organizations and small and medium-sized businesses, and individual Namibians who want to do things for themselves through self-employment. We are encouraging these things.
But the greatest satisfaction that I find in being part of this transition is observing the Namibian people - their participation in elections, which are frequent, but also how they have embraced this fledgling democracy of ours as being their property, that they are the owners of it. What they think and do as individuals in the country matters - they have that belief.
People have views about the future of Namibia, but they also have views about the responsibilities of their national leaders, and they hold us accountable. They call in to the radio programs here, in the morning and evening, and they let us know what they think. That, to me, keeps our democracy not only promising, but alive.
Is anyone listening from the government side?
We absolutely listen. My office insists that the ministers, the bureaucrats respond to the questions put by the public
Can you explain how you make a democracy work when you have one party - Swapo, the former independence movement - that is so popular and an opposition that is so relatively weak.
We have a very lively Parliament, which is dominated by Swapo - I accept that. My philosophy is that the majority party, my party, should not appear in public debates in Parliament to be suggesting that somehow a section or sections of the electorate made a mistake when they did not elect everybody in Parliament from Swapo. In their collective wisdom, the Namibian people elect a certain percentage from Swapo, but they also see to it that there are other parties also.
We are required by our constitution to we maintain a multi-party system, and speaking for myself, I see no harm in having competent, responsible opposition parties. But so far they have not managed to get their act together. It's not too late. Each setback at the polls is an opportunity for them to do better in the future - not to take over the government from Swapo - I'm not that objective! - but to believe in the ideal of democracy that today's opposition is tomorrow's government and to check on where their weaknesses are.
It has not been all smooth sailing for the ruling party. Poverty remains a major challenge, and the rural/urban divide, as is HIV/Aids. We have not done enough in agriculture, land reform and redistribution, education, or health care. These are issues that can be debated and people will listen, not only to Swapo, but also to the opposition parties if they have something to offer and can live up to their responsibilities once they are in Parliament.
We don't just bulldoze decisions in Parliament. The opposition parties have got the prerogative to refer some legislation proposed by the ruling party to Parliamentary committees. That allows them time to have their views incorporated. We have opened Parliament. The voters come and watch us in action. And they draw their own conclusions. They let us know that we are there, not for our own sake, that we are there to serve the collective public interest. And that is the message that we convey as the ruling party to our members.
We also have the judiciary. I can't remember how many times the majority party has lost cases in the courts, which means that the judiciary is strong and active. The judges look at the merit of a case, and in most cases [that we lost] we have been failed by bureaucrats who have not followed the rules. We end up paying a lot of money. We don't particularly like it, but it shows that the judiciary is free and independent, and it's doing its work. That's a good thing.
What do you regard as the most important priorities for Namibia at this moment?
Poverty alleviation must remain the challenge number one for the government. To ameliorate the situation, you must create employment opportunities. That comes about not only from managing the economy well but also by attracting foreign investment, and increasing export capacity and tourists. We are doing that. We export minerals and meat products, as well as agricultural products like grapes and dates.
But HIV/Aids is devastating our nation, as it does some of our neighbors. And everything that we do must take that into consideration. It kills the best in this society, the people that we have educated, that we have trained, people who are conducting the daily vital activities of the nation - health care workers, doctors and nurses, educators, people responsible for infrastructure and rural development - these people are dying. Also university students and secondary school children.
Hence, one of the greatest challenges facing our nation - the phenomenon of Aids orphans, children left to themselves because both parents have died. The idea that an African child becomes parentless because his mother and father have died is something that is difficult for my mind to comprehend. I am the product - the happy, proud product of an extended African family. I was a child of so many mothers and so many fathers.
Things have changed. That much herald extended African family doesn't exist like it did when, as a young boy, I went to the United States. We are urbanizing, we are modernizing and the family is shrinking.
Is that true even in rural areas?
Rural areas also. We are quite mobile. We have a huge country but a small population scattered all over the country. It makes our population manageable when you have pockets of communities where you can provide social services in a manageable way, but it also creates a problem.
And why do you have a continuing problem with drought?
We are a dry country and we are drought-prone. One year is good, next year is bad. We have belatedly accepted that this is a near and present challenge to Namibia as a nation, so we have decided to set up a fund, and even during good years, to add to that fund as a stand-by to provide drought relief to our people. We are now into our third year. If we happen to receive good rains this year, it would alleviate the present problem, but the long-term need for government to provide drought relief will always be there.
Namibia is cited as one of the countries that has benefited from the African Growth and Opportunity Act. What has Agoa meant for Namibia?
Because of Agoa, we have been able to go into joint-venture partnerships with Malaysia. They have set up a textile outfit here that has employed over 7,000 people and will employ more.
We are looking to duplicate that accomplishment to create assets for other sectors of our economy - minerals, tourism, agriculture and energy. We hope that soon there will be opportunities to create more jobs. As SADC [Southern Africa Development Community] member states, we are also discussing a free trade agreement between the United States and our sub-region. It's on track. That too would create opportunities for investment in various fields. These efforts lift some of the boats. Others will also benefit.
Turning to foreign policy, an area you know very well, what's it like to have a powerhouse like South Africa as your next-door neighbor?
I think of it as a blessing. Talking about lifting of boats, the growth and success of the South African economy can only be a good thing for Namibia. I think that the existence of Japan in southeast Asia was an impetus for growth for the south Asian countries, and they themselves admit that.
We work together in regional structures - SADC and the Southern African Customs Union, and, because of past history [between Swapo and the South Africa's ANC], we have regular interactions. We alternate meetings, and the presidents preside over joint sessions of the cabinet. We look at specific sectors that are mutually reinforcing across the border, and we encourage ministers to look at projects that can be developed to advance economic cooperation between the two countries.
While you were foreign minister, Namibia had a high international profile, including your service as president of the UN General Assembly. Is that continuing?
While I held the presidency of the General Assembly from 1999-2000, we also sat as a non-permanent member of the Security Council and twice served a Council president. In 2000, we held the presidency at a very volatile time. Our ambassador [Martin Andjaba] led the UN delegation to Indonesia, East Timor that opened the way for independence for East Timor. I'm very proud of what he did.
We are now putting an emphasis on economic diplomacy. We task our ambassadors, our heads of mission that we send to international conferences, to focus on trade and investment issues.
What is your view of the role and significance of the African Union and also the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad)?
We are still at the formative stage, at the establishment stage in the African Union. In order to have clear policies and goals, we have a number of institutions that must still come on board, like the PanAfrican Parliament and the social, peace and security council. All these different institutions must come on board and operate in a harmonious manner.
Nepad has particular appeal internationally. On the one hand, it is a good thing, because it is keeping Africa in the global limelight. But the overwhelming focus on Nepad at the exclusion of other areas, tends to give the impression that Nepad is one thing and the African Union and AU is something else.
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Our view is that Nepad is a very necessary, vital economic recovery and social transformation arm of the African Union. Its strength and the relevance in Africa's recovery and economic development will depend upon on the unity and solidarity that we all maintain at this formative stage of the African Union, which is a much greater ambition than was the OAU in the past
Nepad, which also has much wider scope, is also venturing into security and conflict resolution issues, particularly when it comes to its peer review mechanism, which has been distorted. Some of us feel that it sounds something like the structural adjustment program by a new name.
Our first priority should be creating institutions that they are owned and driven by the Africans themselves - not only by governments, but by private sector, by civil society, by the African people themselves. So it would be important if we could be allowed some time to go ahead with the formation process, including my next priority, after the peace and security council - the Panafrican Parliament .
I hope we would agree soon on one of the offers on the table to host the Parliament .The existing African parliaments would send, each country, five people, for five years to allow time for those countries that do not have the institutional legislative machinery already in place to get their act together. It will be no problem for us here in Namibia, but not all countries are at the same stage. After that time, these representative would be elected directly.
Speaking of peer review, what is your view about Zimbabwe and how the issue continues to play out?
The Zimbabwean issue has been blown out of all proportion. We think that the way to bring the whole discussion back on track is for the governments of Zimbabwe and Great Britain to find some statesmanship, some courage to commit to work together. These countries are tied by history and so much interest, including by blood.
That's one track. The other is for the government of Zimbabwe and the opposition to find a way, not only to talk about talks, but actually to be seen by the Zimbabwean people to sit down and to look at the situation and the state of the economy. And to look at the missing role that Zimbabwe is expected to play, and used to play, in this region. Zimbabwe is the second most important economy in this region, and a resolution there is important to us all. It is interfering with many other programs and issues.
On my extended European country visit to six countries (in November), I kept being asked about Zimbabwe. Is Namibia going to do what Zimbabwe has done? I was glad to be able to explain that, no, we have our own land reform program. But I had also wanted the chance to talk about trade and other vital issues for Namibia.
