UNDERSTANDING NAMIBIA, the trials of independence

300pp., paperback, First SA Edition, Johannesburg, 2014

Also published in the UK in 2014.

"Henning Melber has lived Namibia's history for many decades both in the country itself and in Western Europe. No-one knows the country any better than he does and his book, well written and thoughtful, thoroughly reflects this: both the country's accomplishments and the deep disappointments its troubled history since Independence has given rise to." John S. Saul, Professor Emeritus of Politics at York University, Toronto, and author of A Flawed Freedom: Rethinking Southern African liberation

"Namibia is often rated as a top performer in surveys measuring good governance in Africa; but the reality, according to Henning Melber, a scholar and activist with a deep knowledge of the country, is quite different. Melber describes Namibia as a 'minimalist democracy', led by SWAPO politicians who claim to have secure social and economic emancipation for all Namibians but who insist on exclusive control for their own benefit ... Erudite and convincing." Martin Meredith, Times Literary Supplement

Henning Melber joined SWAPO as the son of German immigrants in 1974. He was Director of the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in Windhoek, Research Director of The Nordic Africa Institute and Executive Director of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, both in Uppsala. He is Extraordinary Professor at the Universities of Pretoria and of the Free State in Bloemfontein and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Commonwealth Studies/School for Advanced Study, University of London.