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Article: Half a cheer for Namibia's Nujoma.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- December 4, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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AT FIRST glance, it all looks wearily familiar: ten years after shrugging off colonial rule amid popular jubilation, liberation hero turns into autocratic ruler of one-party-dominated state amid popular disenchantment. Namibia's legislative and presidential elections, held on November 30th and December 1st, were duly set to return President Sam Nujoma to power and his SWAPO party to parliament with a big majority. But are matters really so dire?
Mr Nujoma has obligingly stepped into many of the traps that post-independence Africa seems to supply. His government's patronage machine pumps favours out to his fellow Ovambo people, though they make up only half the ...