The results of the revolution

I read an article in the Namibian which referred to one of Namibia’s “heroes whose blood has watered our freedom”.  (These words are part of the Namibian national anthem.)

Just before Namibia gained it’s independence from South Africa, a man named Anton Lubowski was shot outside his house in Windhoek in 1989.

This man was a SWAPO sympathiser, a man who supported a terrorist organisation and who didn’t bat an eyelid when landmines exploded on civilian farms, or when civilians were slaughtered by SWAPO insurgents in the name of liberation.

For those who missed this part of history, Namibia had a violent past, and the people of Namibia faced a massive onslaught backed by Soviet Russia and Cuba.  During the final negotiations for peace, part of the deal was that 50000 Cuban troops had to withdraw from Angola.  This was not a small guerrilla army.

Now although I do not condone this (or any other) assassination, the fact is that this was a war, and in a war people on both sides get killed.  People on farms were massacred by Swapo “guerrillas”.  Innocent civilians were killed by landmines and bombs that were planted by these communist revolutionaries, who turned into capitalist democrats as soon as the Berlin wall came down. 

Today their leaders milk the capitalist society while making socialist comments whenever the workers get restless.  And not one of them has yet had the guts to take Mugabe on.

There is a saying that goes: “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”  Let’s leave it at that.

Twenty years later, the people of Namibia are now reminded of this hero whose blood watered their “freedom”.  It’s interesting to note this hero’s own definition of freedom more than twenty years ago:

“Lubowski used to say that Namibia is rich and that in a free Namibia there would not be any poor person, Mrs Lubowski recalled.

 

History has so far proven otherwise, though.”

This leaves you to make one of two conclusions:

1. The land is not free, or
2. Lubowski’s argument was ridiculous.

Either way, it seems ironic to honour this bloke.  Especially if all the innocent civilian victims of this cruel terrorist war are not also honoured, and the plight of the people who were killed and assaulted on farms in Zimbabwe are completely ignored – even while it still continues.