Public Perceptions of the Namibian Defence Force: An
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PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF THE NAMIBIAN DEFENCE FORCE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE KHOMAS REGION A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN SECURITY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES IN THE FACULTY OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA BY LINUS SHIIMI NAHOLE 200342584 FEBRUARY 2013 MAIN SUPERVISOR: PROF. P.H. VAN ROOYEN ii ABSTRACT The study was carried out to gauge the public’s perception of the Namibian Defence Force under the title “Public Perceptions of the Namibian Defence Force: An Explanatory Study of the Khomas Region”. The objectives of the study were to identify the roles played by the Namibian Defence Force in promoting public trust and the challenges it faced in promoting this trust; to assess the perceptions and knowledge of the people in the Khomas Region regarding the roles of the Namibian Defence Force in promoting public trust; and to recommend measures needed to overcome the identified challenges. The research conducted a theoretical study and then carried out a survey in the concerned area. The study used a questionnaire and the responses were collected and analysed.The main finding of the study was that the public is not fully aware of the need for the Namibian Defence Force in times of peace. Most of the respondents saw the Namibian Defence Force as a waste of state funds and they had not really benefited from its existence. Some respondents were not aware of the activities of the Namibian Defence Force. The recommendations of the study were that the Namibian Defence Force needs to educate the community to stimulate awareness of their activities and to improve public relations education among the soldiers. The study also identified need for improve discipline within theforceto improve the public’s image of the soldiers, hence, improve perceptions and trust. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................vi DEDICATION ......................................................................................................vii DECLARATION................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................ix DEFINITIONS AND TERMS ...............................................................................xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................. xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND.....................................1 1.1 Introduction....................................................................................................1 1.2Orientation and Background of the Study ......................................................4 1.2.1 The mission and Vision of the NDF .......................................................6 1.3 Problem statement........................................................................................10 1.4 Objectives of the Study................................................................................11 1.5 Research Question .......................................................................................11 1.6 Delimitations of the Study ...........................................................................11 1.7 Significance of the Study.............................................................................12 1.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................14 2.1 Introduction..................................................................................................14 2.2 Defence Forces ............................................................................................14 2.3 The Military and the Defence Force ............................................................18 2.4 Traits of Trusted Armies..............................................................................19 2.4.1 Corruption Free .....................................................................................19 2.4.2 Apolitical...............................................................................................20 2.4.3 Trustworthiness of Military Officers ....................................................22 iv 2.5 Public trust of the defence force ..................................................................23 2.6 Perception Management ..............................................................................33 2.7 Perceptions on the Role of Defence Forces in Promoting Public Trust ......45 2.8 Ways of promoting public trust to improve civil-military relations............48 2.9 Public Trust of the NDF in Developed Communities..................................72 2.10 Conclusion .................................................................................................75 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................76 3.1 Introduction..................................................................................................76 3.2 Research Design ..........................................................................................76 3.3 Population ....................................................................................................77 3.4 Sampling and Sample Size ..........................................................................78 3.5 Research Instruments...................................................................................80 3.6Data Collection Procedure ............................................................................81 3.7 Data Analysis...............................................................................................82 3.8 Ethical Consideration...................................................................................82 3.9 Reliability and Validity................................................................................83 3.9.1 Reliability..............................................................................................83 3.9.2 Validity..................................................................................................84 3.10 Elimination of Bias ....................................................................................85 3.11 Limitations of the Study ............................................................................86 3.12Conclusion ..................................................................................................87 CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS ............................................................................................................88 4.1 Introduction..................................................................................................88 4.2 Presentation of Findings ..............................................................................88 4.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................137 CHAPTER 5: THE NAMIBIAN DEFENCE FORCE (NDF)............................139 5.1Introduction.................................................................................................139 5.2 The Constitution and the Defence Act.......................................................139 v 5.3 The role of the NDF...................................................................................140 5.4 The Achievements of the NDF ..................................................................141 5.5 NDF Strategy .............................................................................................143 5.6 The Strengths of the Namibian Defence Force..........................................144 5.7 The Weaknesses of the Namibian Defence Force .....................................147 5.8 Military professionalism in the Namibian Defence Force.........................148 5.8.1 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)........................................150 5.8.2 The Caprivi Rebellion .........................................................................151 5.9 Other Operations........................................................................................153 5.10 The relationship between the NDF and members of the public ..............153 5.11 Conclusion ...............................................................................................154 CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION.........................156 6.1 Introduction................................................................................................156 6.2 Discussion of Findings...............................................................................156 6.4 Recommendations......................................................................................157 6.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................158 REFERENCES....................................................................................................159 APPENDICIES....................................................................................................173