“It has been said, that a legislator should have two things in view when he frames his laws, the country and the people. He will also do well, if he has some regard to the neighbouring states, if he intends that his community should maintain any political intercourse with them” - Aristotle

Can friends criticise?
During my student years (+/-1988), I was confused by the various political systems and teachings that were touted by others. The book that had the most influence on me during this time was “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” by Robert Tressell. The story concerned life in a small southern English town. The author “intended to explain what Socialists understand by the word `poverty': to define the Socialist theory of the causes of poverty, and to explain how Socialists propose to abolish poverty.”

At this time I was also gladdened by the support of our socialist friends such as Cuba, USSR, and of course our southern African neighbours who supported our freedom struggle. Thus it was with great anticipation that I toured to Zimbabwe and Botswana in June 1990, the year of our Independence. The tour was part of a sport and cultural exchange between our universities.

I was however rudely awakened to the realities of what was happening in Zimbabwe before 1990. Some members of the Students Representative Council came to me late one night and requested me to go with them to a meeting. During this meeting they shared with me some horrific (and to me unbelievable) stories about the socialist program in Zimbabwe. They were especially unhappy about the education system in Zimbabwe which was creating a large number of educated teachers. This sounded good, however the problem was that the government decided where the teacher was to be posted, and the salary itself was very low. In fact, they stated, “the salary of a teacher is not enough to buy a pair of jeans”.

The comrades in Zimbabwe begged us to assist in their struggle against the government by smuggling video recorders to the University. The very thing that we had requested for our work during the student uprisings in 1988!

Upon my return to Namibia, I understood the futility of explaining the problems of our comrades in Zimbabwe. All of us were too thankful (and possibly in awe), of Robert Mugabe and his assistance to our own struggle. It was difficult to smuggle the requested machines and when I was caught trying to put together a food package for the University in Harare decided it would be best to refrain from informing my friends and colleagues about who the request had originated from and why.

Less than ten years later, I was once again in Harare and it was clear that things had definitely become worse. At the time I was the Managing Director of a foreign company with interest in Southern Africa and was visiting one of our projects, the Harare International Airport. This was definitely the type of project that was making money for certain individuals in the government at the expense of the citizens.

It was clear that all of us were closing our eyes and ears to the reality of the failed socialist state that is Zimbabwe.