Although President Hifikepunye Pohamba's predecessor, President Sam Nujoma, also took up the cudgel against the abuse of resources, it was never in quite such a vigorous manner as the new incumbent, who has wasted no opportunity to speak out against it.

This in turn may have helped to already create a more enabling environment in which corrupt activities can be exposed and the public in turn, may feel more free to reveal wrongdoing where they know it exists, than keep their own counsel as they may have done in the past, unsure of where their revelations would lead, or what victimisation might occur as a result.

If this trend that we have observed is in fact so, then we would encourage President Pohamba, and his team of Ministers, to ensure that the momentum is maintained, so that more and more people will be encouraged to break with the climate of fear that has prevailed until very recently, and speak out in the interests of the country as a whole where wrongdoing is either suspected or revealed.

President Pohamba has had what we would call, in media parlance, an 'exceptionally good press' in the month since his inauguration.

This has happened because he has tended to say the right things at the right time; has been outspoken in his condemnation of corrupt practices; and has gone further to try put in place mechanisms so that the problem is tackled without the endless delays that characterised the solution to this problem in the past.

People, to a large extent, appear to have sensed a change for the better and appear to feel more free about coming forward to report on wrongdoing.

It may be early days to accurately detect such a trend, but we are optimistic that the public feel more able to do so now than in the past.

It is important that they not be let down.

President Pohamba has said, and promised, the right things.

Now he needs to ensure that his words are acted upon.

For, if in the coming months delays are again experienced in putting, for example, the Anti Corruption Commission in place, a lethargy will once again set in, and people will go back to the ways of silence, which would be a retrogressive step if it occurred.

Those who are trying to hold back progress by exhorting people, Government officials in particular, not to make such revelations in the public domain, should not be allowed to silence the voices of protest.

For these matters, ugly though they may be, should be put out for public airing, for all to see.

Those who perceive such revelations to be tarnishing the good image of Government are shortsighted.

For in the long run, it will force both Government, and all those in the private sector and elsewhere, who are engaged in such practices, out into the open and into tackling the problem in a concerted manner.

This in turn, will be to the good of Government.

We need not repeat the fact that corruption costs us in every sense of the word, but we do.

And perhaps too, that realisation is beginning to dawn on the people of this country.

Corruption affects our way of life and the challenges that we face as a nation to distribute our scant resources in the fairest manner possible.

Ultimately, the minimisation of corrupt practices must help to reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

So we are giving the new President a fair chance to take the bull by the horns and put his promises into practice.

Columns Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Revealing The Interests In The MCA Saga
•  Political Perspective
•  'Never Waste A Crisis': Can Obama Change The Game?
•  The State of Rural Development in Namibia
•  Our Politics Must Transcend The 'Logic Of Cruelty'
•  From the Sidelines: Solutions needed