Doëseb-Hamutenya national anthem debate

Following the death of musician Axali Doëseb, a debate emerged over who wrote or composed the national anthem. Some argued that it was Axali Doëseb who composed the national anthem, while others argued that it was Hidipo Hamutenya. In this debate, the words “composed” and “wrote” were used interchangeably.

These words may be the same, but we also know that they could be different.

When somebody writes something, his or her identity is often clear.

Most written works, like this column, are often accompanied by the identity of the author. But the work of art is slightly different from written text.

In music, for instance, you find a song on an album, and it will be specifically written, ‘composed by so and so’, but such a song belongs to a particular artist different from the composer.

So, from this standpoint, we are to understand, therefore, that to compose and to write is not a straightforward matter. And again, it is possible for the composer to be different from the singer.

Until today, since this debate began, there has been no authoritative individual who wrote with compelling evidence to settle this debate with regards to the intellectual and copyright work that went into our national anthem.

The only notable attempt was the statement made by the minister in the presidency, Christine //Hoebes, who unfortunately used the Damara Festival to announce that Axali Doëseb cannot be credited with composing the national anthem because he worked on a committee.

While this statement was picked up by some newspapers and published, the presidency, through the press secretary, soon moved to distance itself from the minister’s statement, submitting that Doëseb was indeed the composer of our national anthem.

There was no better work done on the subject matter than an online article by Informanté newspaper, whereby the journalist of this paper interviewed the two remaining members of the said committee, this being Ben Amadhila and Andrew Matjila. This was by far the most useful and comprehensive contribution to this debate.

Both Matjila and Amadhila did not settle for the parochial view of choosing one and crediting them for the writing/composition of the national anthem. Instead, they provided a useful context on the process of formulating the national anthem.

They both indicated that Hidipo Hamutenya had the words with which he worked, seemingly providing them to Doëseb for him to settle on and then compose. This interview reveals three things: First, Hamutenya and Doëseb collaborated closely in the writing and composition of the national anthem as part of the committee.

Secondly, Doëseb seemingly served on the committee as a composer. We know that composers compose music. And this may well be the reason why this composer was brought onto the committee in the first place: to compose.

Thirdly, a consultant or expert is brought in because of their skills and expertise, and they work under the overall guidance of those who are responsible for the function and deliverables. With this understanding, the debate on who composed the national anthem is not supposed to have taken place in the first place because, in that committee, there was only one composer, one artist, who would eventually be responsible for the composition.

The author of the words has been settled by members of the committee. It is then clear that we have been busy with, and subjected to, a useless and insignificant debate. It exposes the inability of our society to clearly and concisely settle debates in an informed and solid manner.

This can partly be attributed to the fact that we no longer have meta-intellectuals within the state and mainstream body politics. These would be individuals who speak with clarity, facts and persuasion in important national conversations requiring sobering responses.

This responsibility has unfortunately been left to a journalist. This is such a sad state of affairs for a country that has been free for more than three decades and responsible for providing indigenous education to and by indigenous Namibians. Who are these people leading us? Where are they leading us to? We thank the Informanté journalist who went out of their way to interview Ben Amadhila and Andrew Matjila, who assisted us in settling this debate.

* Muthoni waKongola is a native of Kongola in the Zambezi Region primarily concerned with analysing society and offering ideas for a better Namibia. She is reachable at [email protected] or @wakongola on Twitter / X.