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Plato vs Machiavelli on how Just a Leader should rule, With reference to Namibian leadership.

Plato and Machiavelli wrote their ideas concerning Leadership and how one should approach it. Plato takes a positive attitude on how one should rule whereas Machiavelli takes a negative and more radical attitude of employing both extreme measures and good measures when one is ruling. For Machiavelli it is understood that he wrote his work during a time when Italy was under siege from both Spain and France so that’s where he obtained such a radical ideology when it comes to ruling. Plato on the other hand he took a positive attitude simply because during his time happiness was regarded to be the most fulfilling thing for the human soul. This will be used in the discussion exhibiting how President Hage Geingob has been employing either Platonic approach or Machiavellic approach in ruling Namibia. This will be also giving reference to the letter in the New Era of 24 March 2017.
To Plato a philosopher king should be installed as a King simply because he is virtuous, he knows what is good, just and fine which makes them better rulers. This is paramount in the letter of 24 March when the writer says the President should shun responding to newspaper articles but rather focus on things that bring about economic progress to solve problems such as poverty, economic growth, empowerment, water supply and others. This has been noted through President Hage Geingob on his speech on Heroes day in 2016 he said “Let us therefore not be bored by peace and stability for which we are the envy of many nations.”  Depicting that our President is a man who want Namibia to be built on pillars of peace. . Thus that’s how just a ruler should rule by upholding peace and unity.
When faced with two options of being loved or feared the Prince according to Machiavelli should choose to be feared rather than to be loved, this has been noted through President Hage Geingob when he said to his deputy ministers that “those who are unhappy in their jobs should do the honourable thing and resign. Don’t stay in a place that you are not happy to be.” This only shows the Pragmatist view of Machiavelli on the Presidents part as he is creating fear in his deputy minsters which was a good thing for they will not relax in their offices as they will know their job is at risk of getting fired. Thus it can be noted that Hage Geingob is a just ruler
To Machiavelli ministers are the most visible of the Princes power so they should act in a way that will not affect the Prince. This has been exhibited by Presidents Hage Geingob through firing ministers who do things that against the code of conducts of the offices they hold, Bernadus Swartbooi who refused to give an apology after he said derogatory words to Minister Nujoma which is against the code of conduct of the Government of Namibia. Thus by firing him President Hage Geingob acted justly as he makes sure that his ministers act according to the code of conduct. This typically shows he is a Just ruler.
To Machiavelli, a leader should be a man of his words. This has been shown by President Hage Geingob when in his campaign he said that the first thing he will do once he gets in power is to publicly declare his assets. This came to happen when he declared his and his wives assets depicting him as a just ruler and he further went on to say that his cabinet and members of Parliament will follow suit showing how much he wants his administration to be transparent. He further declared a war on poverty when he said “I have declared all-out war on poverty and created the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare as the frontline Ministry to spearhead our combat plan.” And he has managed to do this by giving old age grants to pensioners which is a way of alleviating them from poverty.

To Plato a philosopher king prioritizes his people’s needs. This has been shown through President Hage Geingob when he said that “we want a society where no one should feel left out” this has been envisaged in his Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) which outlines policies which are of benefit to the Namibian nation. In his foreword in the Harambee document President Hage Geingob said “am acutely aware of the burning desire of the Namibian people to inhabit a Namibian House where there is no poverty.” Showing how he wants to see a prosperous Namibia. This has been shown through the performance review of the HPP which state that 600,000 Namibians has benefited from drought relief assistance since inception of HPP.
To Plato a Philosopher King brings justice in a state. This has been noted through President Hage Geingob on the issue of Redistribution of land when he was talking at Independence celebrations in Rundu recently he admitted that the willing buyer willing seller has failed and he is calling for an alternative way in redistributing land to people which shows how he upholds social justice through good redistributive justice means that benefits every Namibian and thus this shows President Hage is an epitome of a just ruler.


Being a just ruler needs a leader to act in a good way that is of benefit to the people, because leading people is about serving them simultaneously depriving them of other things. This has been depicted in the above analysis with reference to a letter written by a Namibia citizen to the President. This letter has been explored philosophically and logically bringing out its themes in conjunction with those of Plato and Machiavelli in trying to depict how a ruler should rule justly without being myopic to people’s needs and future occurrences.
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Location: Windhoek, Namibia

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