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Vol 44 No 23

Published 21st November 2003


Namibia

No melting pot

Marginalised minorities campaign for a German-style federal system of government

Namibia's delicate inter-ethnic balance, carefully maintained since Independence in 1990 by President Sam Nujoma, is the hot political topic. After much uncertainty, Nujoma will retire next year when his term runs out and a special congress of the ruling South West Africa Peoples' Organisation (SWAPO) will pick his successor. The almost certain winner, Foreign Affairs Minister Hidipo Hamutenya, is seen by his critics as the architect of policies that have made his own people, the Oshivambo (about half of the 1.8 million population) ever more powerful in politics, business, the army and the civil service.

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