Free Fashion Advice from the Police
WHAT’S worse than being Seb Ndeitunga this week? Well, at least you are not Oscar Pistorius or an Arsenal fan. OK. Even Oscar has a chance at redemption. I’m not so sure about Ndeitunga or Arsenal fans.
Namibian Police Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga warned women to refrain from wearing miniskirts that are “too short and revealing” in public because it’s kamma not acceptable in the African culture.
Ndeitunga told The Namibian this week that the police do not want to interfere in citizens’ constitutional freedoms but there is a “need to underline the importance of culture, especially to our young people and that includes what they wear.” Those wearing “revealing” clothes will be arrested, Ndeitunga warned. So, after the story appeared in the paper everyone piled on poor old Ndeitunga. Why? All the man did was being protective of the weak and vulnerable and those who do not know what’s good for them. He is the modern day protector of our morals, the founding father of Namibia’s own version of Sharia law and the promoter of African culture. The policeman of fashion and fashionistas. The Patron Saint of all things frilly, fussy and fashionable.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
I don’t believe in sin, so allow me.
Etse, Sebastian! How do you just wake up one day and decide on your own interpretation of public indecency?
And when the excrement hit the proverbial fan, Ndeitunga decided to follow the first rule of failed fashionistas: When the fires are burning and you see your injudicious use of words in print, there’s only one thing left to do – deny, deny, deny!
But despite the outcry and insults the top cop never committed a crime. OK. He might be guilty of opening his mouth without thinking. But shooting from the hip is an crime so many public figures in Namibia are guilty of, we don’t even notice it anymore.
But it’s not the guy’s fault that his thinking is backward and uninformed. I blame the missionaries. They are still so high up his ass he’s talking like them.
Was Ndeitunga under the influence of a skirt when he made the comments? Is Shinovene hoeka a girl’s name? I never know with these African names. Blame Bantu education for me and Ndeitunga’s folly.
Namibia’s battle with all things skimpy and revealing slapped us right in the face in the beginning of 2013 when overzealous police officers arrested a bunch of girls in Rundu for wearing miniskirts and hot pants. Hochland High also this week sent pupils home because their skirts hardly covered their buttocks. Maybe the Inspector General only wanted to divert attention from the fact that the Namibian Police are a complete and utter disaster.
They cannot successfully react to a distressed citizen wanting their help. They do not investigate and bring to book culprits and they never give feedback to victims of crime.
I’m still waiting for the fingerprint division to come to my house after it was broken into about three years ago. All the furniture and rubbish are still standing as the crooks left it.
This prompted me to submit NamPol for a prize with ‘Guiness Book of World Records’. I believe they have a section for government institutions not giving a f**k.
But what do you expect from officers whose annual salaries are smaller than the monthly allowance of the Inspector General. What do you expect from an institution that has an over supply of managers, supervisors, commanders and generals but hardly any leaders.
Something tells me the honourable gentleman has bigger fish to fry than to dish out fashion advice willy-nilly. Chief, where’s Lazarus Shaduka?
– rambler@namibian.com.na