EDITORIAL: We need outright winners in 2024

The 2019 and 2020 elections have taught us two key lessons. One was that liberation rhetoric is no longer acceptable to many Namibians as a basis for their voting decisions. Young people even joked at the time that they would hide their grandparents' voter cards because that generation still casts its votes mainly out of gratitude for the liberators. Of course, it would be illegal to hide anyone’s voter card and violate their constitutional rights.

The second lesson was that we need a majority winner, no matter how thin the margins may be, in order to avoid coalitions. Swapo’s takeover of the City of Windhoek last year, taking the majority of seats in the management committee and regaining the mayoral seat, signalled the end of the coalition that governed the city in a rather chaotic manner.

Injured Swapo limped its way back to the top, taking advantage of the lack of unity among the erstwhile ‘progressive forces' that arrived on the scene with pomp and fanfare in late 2020.

The ruling party’s return to the summit does not necessarily mean things will be done its way. It is still heavily outnumbered by the opposition, which collectively holds 10 out of 15 seats. However, silent unity among ruling party councillors was a key catalyst in getting Swapo back to the pinnacle. But in the end, it’s not about positions. We will judge all 15 councillors and their parties as a unit.