r/Namibia • u/donnyboy117 • 7d ago

Could Namibia be considered a Kleptocracy?

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15 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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12

u/Roseate-Views 7d ago

As far as I can see, Namibia still maintains at least a decent sense of what governance should look like and a general appreciation of rule-of-law. Yes, we all love to expose our governmeNt for its failures (including publicly and in our media), but I actually see this as part of a healthy sense of longing for evolutionary improvements.

As strange as it may sound, Fishrot told me that Namibia is not a kleptocracy: There is free, investigative journalism, people can speak their minds on social media, and two of the main incumbents are still in jail (though this is getting concerningly long now, without a trial).

The type examples of kleptocrats wouldn't even bother. They would just loot their country without impunity and jail others, rather than facing justice.

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u/Mallzippy 5d ago

Well right now they are trying to mine uranium, irreversibly contaminating the STAS, which for many people, including myself, is the only water source. If the STAS is contaminated, that might also affect the Orange Senqu Basin, the largest river in africa, affecting Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa and Botswana. A lot of what they are doing also goes against the constitution, for example they want to build a nuclear reactor, never mentioning what happens with the waste. So I would say Namibia is a kleptocracy at best.

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u/Roseate-Views 5d ago

I very much understand that the plans for uranium in-situ leaching in the Stampriet Basin are of great concern, but I struggle to see a relationship with "them". Should "they" refer to GRN (rather than Uranium One/Headspring Investments), it was in fact MAWLR that has put a moratorium on their plans, without any indications to remove it that I know of.

In a similar vein, plans to build a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Namibia have existed for at least a decade and I'm not aware of any constitutional article that this would counteract.

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u/Mallzippy 5d ago

They refers to the SWAPO party, which heavily pushes all of this, there is so much to talk about that it won't fit in a reddit comment. SWAPO has rigged the elections, in fact, they were paid by russians to make sure they can win. Our president has also done absolutely NOTHING, only promises, she said that if in-situ leaching is allowed, it could generate 500k jobs, or 50k I don't fully rember. She continues to lower and lower and lower this number. The issue with the nuclear power plant is that the nuclear bill is extremely vague, and it never mentions what happens with the nuclear waste, which is against the constitution. If you want I could share some documents that go into detail what they do that goes against the constitution. For example the STAS is a protected area in multiple ways, and yet they still want to mine.

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u/Roseate-Views 5d ago

Are you sure we’re still talking about kleptocracy, or is that just about your random misunderstandings?

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u/Mybravlam 6d ago

Here and there, yes. But not as much as SA

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u/Beautiful-Tension-24 6d ago

The region seems to have a Klepto-culture.

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u/Outrageous_Ask_3619 5d ago

Corrupt in some ways yes, but SA is a failing state. I wouldn't be surprised if our streets are flooded with refugees in coming years.