The African Social Responsibility and Public Initiatives (Asarpi) in Namibia, has challenged the government to ensure equal opportunities for all.
This comes amid public debate over the appointment of ambassador Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati to the Swiss Confederation and concerns about women’s representation in government.
Asarpi is a non-aligned Pan-African advocacy think-tank, founded by John Stanfield.
The debate follows Nghipondoka-Robiati’s appointment on 2 October by president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, which attracted comments on Facebook, with several users, mostly men, arguing that the current administration is placing disproportionate emphasis on women’s affairs and overlooking men.
Responding to the debate this week, Stanfield congratulated Nghipondoka-Robiati but said appointments and governance should be guided by competence, fairness and equal access to opportunities, regardless of gender or other demographic differences.
“What matters in an authentic democracy are struggles and implementation of effective policies promoting competency-based elections and appointments, good private and public governance, and equal access to mobility opportunities,” Stanfield said.
He warned that discrimination, marginalisation and exclusion undermine human dignity and result in wasted human potential.
Stanfield argued that Namibia and the wider African continent had an opportunity to demonstrate democratic systems grounded in justice, inclusion and culturally relevant practices.
“African democracies such as Namibia have the socio-political opportunity to be the continental and indeed global leader in developing sustaining authentic democracies embedded in justice for all,” he said.
He challenged Namibia’s public and private sectors, as well as civil society, to use this opportunity rather than squander it.
The debate, he said, points to the challenge of advancing women’s representation while ensuring that men and women alike have fair access to opportunities and public appointments.
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