Dr Mbile Peter Wa Namaso
By Ngembeni Wa Namaso
The point of any truthful advice delivered disrespectfully is that it is more likely to be missed than heard.
When truth is offered respectfully, even when spoken to power, it creates a choice: it may be listened to and heeded for the better, or ignored for the worse.
Respect, therefore, is not weakness; it is strategy. It is in this spirit that I offer this New Year reflection for 2026.
From Foundational Stability to Functional Transformation*
My sincere advice for 2026 is an intentional progression of our national vision from National Unity, Peace and Stability toward Governance, Innovation and Development.
This progression matters, even at the level of slogans, because national slogans are not decorative; they shape imagination, influence behavior, and gradually transform mindset.
Like Unity, Peace and Stability before them, Governance, Innovation and Development can capture the national consciousness and redirect collective energy toward outcomes that are tangible and enduring.
This transition should have occurred a decade ago, but better late than never.
Why this progression is a mathematical certainty
This progression is not ideological.
It is mathematical and scientific.
Any positive system that remains static, however noble its founding vision, eventually deteriorates. In physics, inertia without external force leads to stagnation.
In biology, organisms that fail to adapt decline. In social systems, ideals that are not operationalized are eventually distorted, corrupted, or reversed.
Unity, when celebrated only in fanfare and not instrumentally applied, turns inward and produces disunity.
Stability, when enforced rather than harnessed for development, hardens into institutional entrenchment.
Peace, when detached from justice, human rights, and good governance, becomes fragile and illusory.
These are not political opinions; they are observable patterns, supported by empirical evidence across societies and across time.
Evidence all around us
We see transformation in physical structures, private wealth, and individual achievement.
Yet alongside this, we witness environmental degradation, declining hygiene and sanitation, unreliable water and electricity, and weakening public services.
We have built a strong and professional security apparatus, yet insecurity persists and even expands in parts of the country.
We have trained professionals and expanded education, yet productivity struggles, quality employment lags, and internal markets remain weak.
These contradictions are not accidental.
They are the predictable outcomes of a vision that has not evolved from preservation to performance.
Governance, Innovation and Development as Reinforcing Forces*
Governance instills justice, transparency, human rights, accountability, and mutual trust.
Innovation unlocks youth power, drives industrialization, raises productivity, and creates employment, generating the “feel-good” momentum that reinforces governance.
Development, as the outcome, validates both. It improves quality of life, strengthens service delivery, diversifies the economy, and enhances competitiveness.
When this progression is achieved, Unity, Peace and Stability cease to be aspirations.
They become lived realities. Democracy becomes less painful, less contested, and more intentional, because society understands its purpose and appreciates its reason for being.
A New Year commitment*
This is my New Year message for 2026: let us move from protecting stability to producing progress, from slogans to systems, from intention to transformation.