Food For Thought

* IN my opinion, we as a nation can win the war against poverty if the Government, the opposition, private sector, non-governmental organisations, individuals, black and white, stand up and say: let us do it!

Zimbabwe

* FELLOW Africans, it's high time to know that Mugabe is a true African leader and he is a hero of Zimbabwe. He gave back what belongs. Now he is bad and you praise those who grabbed and sold it to you in return. Please let's meditate on this. - Mr Kapinga

* MUGABE and his cronies have eaten the revolution. Their bellies are fat, their pockets are full and their Mercs and BMWs are filled with petrol. The people are malnourished, their pockets are empty and most can't afford to buy fuel. How sad that African leaders are more concerned about the image of one of their comrades than with the plight of the people of a once-rich nation - 80 per cent unemployed, displacement, hunger, inflation, etc. It seems that propping up the status quo is more important than the heart of a nation: the people. Shame on those who try to propagandise otherwise.

Swapo-RDP

* THIS country is very wide with enough space to allow even 100 rallies a day at different places. Why does Swapo fix its rallies next to the RDP's? We need an explanation.

* TO brothers (Swapo and RDP), preventing others from carrying out their political activities is tantamount to encouraging them. - Sage

* I'M a Swapo supporter but what happened in Okuryangava, I'm not happy with it. The RDP is a registered party, why were some Swapo members disturbing RDP? Please read about the Constitution and know what parties are all about. Thanks. - NCK

* RDP members always compare Namibia with Zimbabwe or Kenya, which is totally wrong. The violence in those countries is the result of police partiality to the ruling parties. I also fail to understand why they refer to war all the time they have issues with their former comrades. Behave yourselves, Swapo and RDP.

* THERE are a lot of stadiums in Windhoek where RDP can hold their meetings. Why should you hold your meetings where you are not wanted. You don't have supporters in that area, that's why you were chased away. Those who are always talking about bloodshed in Namibia, stop it! Don't keep on wishing for it.

* BRIGITTE Weidlich, are you still telling it like it is? If you said "several" which means many RDP supporters were escorted to their homes, in fact only two RDP members were escorted home. - Edhiya - Please note, The Oxford English Dictionary defines several as "more than two but NOT many". Reporters aim to be as specific as possible but sometimes not all the details are immediately available - especially where the situation is volatile. The fact remains that whether it was one, or six, some RDP supporters had to be escorted home because of fears for their safety. - Newsdesk

* SWAPO, RDP, go to the national youth and give them jobs so that they will remember you in 2009. Ngurare, the young are becoming old.

* NAMIBIA "the would-be hub of Africa". I cannot imagine that this is the same nation which less than two years ago proudly depicted itself to be the leader of Africa. But although that sounded like music to my ears, there was still some doubt in my mind. Having known Swapo leadership for such a long time I had some doubt whether they were really serious about their assertion. It would appear that my doubt has been confirmed following the recent Swapo leadership behaviour towards the RDP party. The Swapo leadership appears to be so scared of the RDP that they now have forgotten their responsibility to this nation's Constitution to protect the right of freedom of speech and association guaranteed in the Constitution.

Bouquets & Brickbats

* WARD 1, which is a private ward at the Oshakati State Hospital, is a disaster with unhygienic conditions in the in ablution facility and the food is terrible. Shame on the management. That's not the way to manage the hospital

* SHAME that sugar for flood victims at Onakamwandi Combined School is now on shelves for sale. Is this not corruption?

* I'M very thankful for your SMS slot. Could you not add an extra page for more SMSes? All in all keep 'telling it like it is'. - Thank you for your suggestion. - News Editor

Deal With It, Please!

* MR Helmut Angula, it's time to present salary evaluations to the Cabinet. Artisans, foremen and works inspectors working for the Department of Works are underpaid compared to the private sector.

* PRESIDENT Pohamba, we are suffering at Aus. There is no work for the youth and it is now 18 years after Independence. We do not even have NBC. Please help us. Thanks

* ABUSE of GRN vehicles in Karas is worrisome. Mr Noa, please bring down your team to call the culprits to order. GRN vehicles are being used like taxis or as personal cars. Civil servants are effectively using these vehicles to go out on lunch, to pay their personal accounts, to do shopping, to drop and pick up children from schools. Some GRN bakkies are fitted with mattresses for convenience. This does not look normal at all.

* WHY unqualified teachers only, what about those unqualified deputy directors in the ministries? The ACC must investigate the qualifications of these DDs, because they don't know anything and this leads to very poor performance and overloading of staff because they are doing everything for them.

* I'M an artisan at the Ministry of Works. My basic salary is N$7 000 before tax. At NamPower the same artisan earns N$14 000 and more. When will Napwu minimise this gap?

* WHY are we paying Napwu? They are just politicians. Civil servants must withdraw their membership. We are poorly paid.

* DISCIPLINARY measures in GRN: 1. Verbal warning, 2. First written warning, 3. Second, third and last warning. Each warning is valid for one to two years.... and 95 per cent of the culprits of wrongdoing just defeat the measures. Right Hon Prime Minister please do something better.

* OFFICE of the Prime Minister and Civil Service: There should be a direct and practical correlation between filling a vacant post and firing a person convicted of misconduct in a civil service.

* A REQUEST goes to the Ministry of Defence to employ qualified chefs in all military establishments. Food is wasted because it is not well cooked.

* MR HAGE [Geingob] do something as Minister of Trade. The cement price is high. We want the Otjiwarongo factory to open soon.

* OUR Government must urgently look into our home loans because we cannot buy houses. Please!

Education

* THE Lazarus Shinyemba Ipangelwa Foundation promised students from Swakopmund school scholarships if they obtained good results in mathematics and accounting. After attending the tutorials sponsored by the foundation, I would like to know what happened, and if any scholarships were awarded and to whom were they awarded?

* WE at Osikunde Senior Secondary School suffer so much with no food and no water. Swapo do something, we want to be like other secondary schools. We are tired of waiting.

* ACC must not discriminate. Why are the most principals and education inspectors who are well known for corruption not brought to book? They, who are well known either for molesting learners or misusing school funds, were left free and even given study leave to pursue studies at Unam and even abroad. Who approves their study leave when teachers who are clean are refused study leave? All this was done in Oshikoto Region. - AT Amakali

* WE Polytech distance students would like our year marks to be released soon so that they can issue our exam timetable this week. We need timetables to support our study leave. Imagine a student that has not yet received any feedback for assignments. The first day for exams is June 2. Please do something by this week.

* PLEASE IOL stop fooling your Grade 12 students. How many months is it after our due date of registration, but most of us have still not received our study material

* PS of Education, when are you going to approve the lower primary post at Ngoma Primary School? Since last term no response. Please I want to pay the loan I used at college. l have been a voluntary teacher at the school since January 1 2008.

* CAN the Ministry of Education tell us on why there are no teaching posts in Mukwe constitutions. Students are still on the street and some teachers who completed in 2006 are on a temporary basis. The director of education in this region acts as if he is not aware of the situation. Why?

NBC

* WHY doesn't NBC broadcast the 'Gardener's Daughter' at least for an hour, not to drag the episode out for so long and instead repeating the same old news two hours apart. It is so boring to watch or listen to people who can hardly speak proper English on any locally cast NBC programmes including the news!

* CCTV provides world-class news and other pertinent information just like CNN or BBC. Those who complain are suffering from chinophobia.

* NBC is pathetic! Stop the reruns and start showing decent films!

* THANKS Chichi, Ndilimani entertains us the biggest audience in Namibia. We miss them on TV, please play more Ndilimani music we are paying our TV licences.

Consumed By Service Woes

* CAN MTC explain why one cannot send SMSes to South Africa.

* THE service in some of the banks is very poor. Visit FNB Rundu and you will get the true meaning of poor service. When you go in the bank, expect to spend a minimum of one hour in a queue with only five people in front of you. What happened to the excellent service you gave 2001 to 2003?

* I'M APPALLED at the service at the restaurant at Benny's Park. We had to wait for 30 minutes for our drinks and one hour for our food. When we lamented we were told to get used to it, that's how things work in the North.

Politics In General

* WE must not defend or fear our leaders where it is not possible. We have to thank them where they did good for us, but where they did bad they must be blamed by all means.

* NAMIBIA is not going Zimbabwe's way. Analyse the two countries objectively and you will come to this conclusion. Long live a confident Namibia.

General

* IF Namibia is a member of the Commonwealth, why are we not singing the same words as other Commonwealth member countries when employing youth workers? It seems we know the tune of the Commonwealth song, but ignore the words.

* WHY should a public transport permit only be valid for two years, while a driving licence is valid for five years? Can the Minister of Transport explain to us because we get charged after two years for our driving licence as well if the public permit expires. I think that is what you call highway robbery.

Letters Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Blitz or Bleat
•  Call For Tolerance And Acceptance
•  Zim Soccer Analogy
•  Priorities For Our Power
•  Service Industry Needs To Buck Up
•  Unacceptable Conditions At Okanguati
•  Some Sports Have All The Luck
•  In The Name Of Tolerance