Modern Rhetorical Presidency and the Reshaping of Democracy in Namibia: 29th Independence Anniversary Speech of President Hage Geingob

Abstract

As a constitutional democracy, Namibia is governed by the fundamental rules that constitute the country and its institutions. Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia stipulates that as the Head of State, the “President shall uphold, protect and defend the Constitution as the Supreme Law, and shall perform with dignity and leadership all acts necessary, expedient, reasonably and incidental to the discharge of the executive functions of the Government.” Rhetorically, the situation brings about the existence of discourse. This view affirms that rhetoric is constructed in response to and within the context of a particular “rhetorical situation”. In the case of this paper, the exigent circumstance is one of President Geingob’s ceremonial speeches as required of him by the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia. It is the current researcher’s observation that it is through speeches that presidents lead their countries. President Geingob’s modern presidency, executed the laws through speeches, communicated directly to the Namibian people about what his Government has done, what it is attempting to do, and what they plan to do. Therefore, by using Aristotelian (2007) “three regimes” of rhetoric as well as the three rhetorical proofs ethos, pathos and logos, the paper analyses how Geingob’s rhetoric reshapes the democracy of post-apartheid Namibian government. President Hage Geingob, the third democratically elected Namibian President, delivered statements during his term of office. The statement he made on the 29th independence anniversary is the focal point of this paper. Geingob’s rhetoric touches a wide spectrum of topics ranging from tackling corruption, promotion of economic development and reconciliation, strengthening democracy, the maintenance of peace and stability, the protection of the territorial integrity of Namibia, to the promotion of international peace and security. Therefore, the rhetorical analysis of Hage Geingob’s speech in this paper shows how modern presidential rhetoric is an important tool for his leadership as it is characterised by proper use of discourse in his speech. Thus, his verbal eloquent identifies his charisma.