Hage Geingob
President Hage Geingob, upon taking office in 2015, dismissed many corrupt politicians, making a bold statement. He chose to appoint employees from the diverse tribes that make up Namibia, such as the Nama (5%) and the Herero (7%) tribes, who traditionally had conflicts with each other. By bringing them together in the government, the tribal members are now better able to cooperate. Hage believes that, first and foremost, everyone is human, and only secondarily belongs to a tribe or a country. The largest group in Namibia are the Ovambo (50%), but the diversity within the cabinet has fostered greater unity within society.Corruption
Say Africa, and unfortunately, corruption often comes to mind as well. It's a sad thought, but in some ways, it's understandable. Everywhere in the world where poverty prevails and things aren't as tightly regulated as in the West, people will try to earn extra money, simply because it's needed, but also because it's deeply ingrained. Take that little bribe to let you off the hook when you’re caught without your seatbelt, for example. A small case of corruption, in my opinion, but in places like Kenya—or Bangladesh, for that matter—it’s just the norm. Namibia, ranked third after Botswana and Cape Verde, is the least corrupt country in Africa. How this has happened isn't entirely clear, but it seems that as prosperity rises and is more evenly distributed, corruption decreases.Economic Growth of Namibia
What Halbe Geingob has done by disregarding the traditional and established division of power based on tribal affiliation is very clever, as it has shown that Nama and Herero people can indeed work together. If you then experience an economic growth of over 5% per year, you convince the population that this new approach could indeed be a very good one. Kudos!
