Votes are not a currency: Serve the people beyond election day

There is one sentence in our report on Baboon City that should haunt every elected official in Namibia:

“Politicians only come here when they need votes.”

It is a simple statement. It is not wrapped in political ideology, academic language or constitutional theory. It is the lived experience of citizens who feel abandoned by the very system they participate in. It reflects a painful reality that extends far beyond Baboon City and echoes through informal settlements, rural villages and struggling communities across Namibia.

The tragedy is not merely that these residents lack clean water, sanitation, electricity or proper roads. The greater tragedy is that many have come to believe that their value as citizens lasts only until the ballot boxes are packed away.

That should trouble every political leader, regardless of party affiliation.

Democracy is not an event that occurs every five years. It is a continuous relationship between leaders and the people who entrust them with power. Elections are not the destination of democracy; they are merely the beginning of a covenant between citizens and those who seek to govern them.

When communities begin to believe they are remembered only during campaigns, that covenant begins to fracture.