Shortly after midnight, on 21 March, the South African flag was lowered in Windhoek as Namibia took its place amongst the independent nations of the world. Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the Republic's first president by the UN Secretary-General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, at a ceremony attended by world leaders.
Representatives of 147 countries joined thousands of Namibians at the festivities in Windhoek's athletics stadium. President Nujoma told the crowd that Namibian independence was 'a moment our people have been waiting for, for more than a century'. He made a strong call for unity and reconciliation — the major theme of SWAPO's election campaign and its subsequent policy in the Constituent Assembly.
All sections of Namibia's population joined in the independence celebrations, but there was an attempt to declare the Rehoboth bantustan independent by its former head, Hans Diergaardt, who had re-occupied the administrative offices from which he was removed when the authority was dissolved last year. He refused to accept the jurisdiction of the new Namibian government or the courts. The new government indicated that it would not tolerate illegal attempts at secession, but would seek to resolve the issue peacefully.
Nujoma's presidency was unanimously endorsed by Namibia's Constituent Assembly in February. He will serve for a five-year term, after which national presidential elections will take place. No president will be able to serve for more than two terms.
The Constituent Assembly adopted the country's constitution by consensus, although some parties expressed dissatisfaction with certain principles. The constitution was little changed from the draft presented to the Assembly at the end of January. The last stumbling block to agreement was overcome on 9 February when a controversial clause allowing for detention without trial was removed, in order, as one SWAPO delegate put it, to 'give human rights a chance'.
President-elect Nujoma said that the document was 'not perfect ... [but] an impressive summation of the universally acclaimed principles, ideas and values of democratic society'. He pointed out that the constitution enshrined the principle of 'affirmative action ... to redress the social and economic injustices of the past'. It also outlaws the practices of apartheid and racism.
The elected delegates to the Constituent Assembly became the new legislature of Namibia after independence — national elections will be held within five years on a proportional representation basis. Regional and local elections will also be held — probably within two and a half years — and a second chamber, called a National Council, formed. A cabinet was appointed before independence, consisting mostly of SWAPO representatives, although some non-aligned professionals and members of other parties were also appointed.
SWAPO commands a simple majority in the National Assembly, with a strong opposition in the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), an amalgam of several parties. In March, the DTA met to consider transforming itself into a single party, leading to the resignation of its president, Kuaima Riruako, and his replacement by the vice-president, Mishake Muyongo. The other main opposition alliance, the United Democratic Front, also began the process of transforming itself into a single party.
The new government has inherited a fundamentally imbalanced economy, the result of a century of colonial exploitation. Although Namibia has one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa, most of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of whites and the country also has some of the worst poverty on the continent. Unemployment nationally is estimated to be at least 30 per cent, and in the north 60 per cent.
The government is committed to economic reform and to ensuring that a greater proportion of the wealth generated by mining and fishing remains in the country, but the incoming Minister of Finance, Otto Herrigel, predicted a budget deficit of R500 million in the first year of independence. In a policy speech in February, Herrigel said that Namibia would seek to establish its own central banking and monetary system, in place of the current system which is tied to South Africa. Agricultural subsidies would also be a priority area. Herrigel noted that there was a threat of a capital outflow and that pension companies had moved R400 million from Namibia to South Africa before independence.
Independent Namibia will join the Southern African Development Co-Ordinating Conference (SADCC) and attempt to lessen its trade ties with South Africa. It will also seek preferential trading arrangements with the European Economic Community through the Lome Convention and has joined the Commonwealth. President Nujoma requested the UN to lift existing sanctions, including the oil embargo, on independence. He also called for sanctions against Walvis Bay to be lifted — the UN regards the port as part of Namibia but it is still administered by South Africa.
During February and March cabinet ministers-elect began to formulate policies to eliminate apartheid and rebuild Namibian society. Schools remained largely segregated when the school year opened, and white schools managed to exclude many black applicants on the basis of language proficiency. A draft policy document released in January by the Minister of Education-elect, Nahas Angola, presented a comprehensive plan for transforming the education system. Free and compulsory education for all would be phased in, a new education structure and national curriculum devised and new teacher-training systems implemented. Angola described the existing education system as 'a disaster area' and set out 'emergency measures' to deal with immediate shortages. Teaching of English, the new official language, will also be a priority.
Plans for transforming the legal system were also unveiled. Apartheid laws will be scrapped, traditional law will be integrated into the main body of laws, lawyers and magistrates trained in exile will be incorporated and legal advice structures will be established.
President Nujoma and other government officials have emphasised the importance they place on an independent and critical press. Radio and television — controlled by the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation — will be harnessed for mass education schemes and controlling and editorial structures will be reorganised.
Only a few incidents of violence occurred during the independence period, but concern about security, especially in the north, persisted. The killing of two SWAPO members, Johannes and Danielina ROBBERTS, near Grootfontein caused alarm in the area, but SWAPO did not believe the killings were politically motivated. In Windhoek, unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on three leading SWAPO members, including Zephania KAMEETA, a Lutheran church leader and member of the Constituent Assembly.
Thousands of ex-military weapons are in private hands. In the main northern war areas an estimated 4,000 mines remain in known minefields and discarded ammunition is scattered around. The border with Angola remains unstable, with UNITA members and ex-Koevoet members crossing regularly. Local authorities expressed concern that successful Angolan government offensives against UNITA in southern Angola would lead to an increasing influx of UNITA members — according to official sources, there are 5,300 Angolans under UNITA control living in the western Caprivi area.
Steps were taken to integrate South African-controlled police and military forces with SWAPO's forces. The first integrated intake of police, consisting of 68 former SWAPO combatants, 14 SWAPO members trained in exile as police and 90 former South West Africa Police recruits, began training in February. The incoming Minister of Home Affairs, Hifikepunye Pohamba, toured northern Namibia to seek support for the fledgling Namibian Police, urging people to co-operate with the new force and pledging to retrain and reorient the existing police.
Demobilised SWAPO combatants and ex-members of the South West Africa Territory Force (SWATF) will form the core of the new Namibian army, about 6,000 strong, which is being trained by a small British military contingent. However, many SWATF members have been withdrawn to South Africa and integrated into the South African Defence Force. The incoming government requested six governments which had contributed military or police contingents to the UN forces to remain for three months after independence to ensure security. The Kenyan government agreed to keep 1,000 troops in Namibia and other countries contributed police contingents.
