On 28 July 2022, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) held a webinar titled ‘Tribalism and Namibia’ along with International Women Peace Group (IWPG) and International Peace Youth Group (IPYG).
About 200 people, including government officials, religious leaders, civil society organizations, and women and youth leaders, participated in the event under the theme, “Building the Namibia We Want: The Road to Ending Tribalism”.
Former mayor of Henties Bay and Namibian war veteran Hermann Hosabe /Honebg mentioned Namibia’s political, cultural, and economic background in the opening address.
Namibia is home to 11 tribes and ethnic groups. Tribalism can significantly shape a country, creating visible and invisible borders that can affect decision-making. Due to the lingering presence of tribalism and regionalism, minority tribes have struggled for land, authority, and natural resources. The lack of representation has also led to a divide in the social and political sphere and has deterred sustainable national development of the Sub- Saharan country.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Levy Nyirenda of the Regional Focal Point for East and Southern Africa for the UN Group for Children and Youth shared that “We have seen brutal killings, disruption of projects, and hindrances in development due to tribalism. What we need to spread is heavenly culture to achieve a society that is not tribal. As young people, we need to think of the future world we would like to live in and take ownership of our societies.” He added that Namibians need to change their mindset about the existence of tribalism by creating awareness programs to change the imagination of our children and youth.
Youth guest speaker, Mr. Robert Maseka, founder and managing director of the Rob Youth Foundation, said “To curb tribalism, we need a strong majority from all tribes to advocate for equality, to achieve the One Namibian Dream. We should develop a sense of unity from our past by creating structures that support the Namibian dream. We should save the land of the brave before tribal wars erupt”
Mr. Obyster Muleke from the Ministry of Gender presented ”Tribalism continues to affect resource distribution in Namibia” and “Tribalism has become political in nature, individuals’ capacities to lead are determined by what tribe they come from”. He shared that we should deal with tribalism as early as possible, to avoid creating a bigger crisis.
In line with the theme, Namibian HWPL co-ordinator, Ms. Aina Shiimi presented a case study on the impact of Culture for Peace which was achieved in Mindanao, an island in the Philippines by HWPL. She compared the Mindanao conflict with the troubles of tribalism in Namibia saying that ”the long-standing entanglement of troubles has led to a lack of national harmony and co-prosperity. In the Mindanao conflict, there was mediation by a third party in addition to the efforts of the parties to the conflict.”
HWPL is a non-government organization with the main aim of establishing sustainable peace by putting an end to armed conflict and promoting a culture of peace through various initiatives such as establishing international law for peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), HWPL Peace Education, Dialogues for religious harmony.
