Penniless?
I WOULD like to comment on what Youth Minister Kazenambo Kazenambo said about Swapo youth leader Elijah Ngurare.
The hot-headed minister said – and he certainly was angry when he said it because of the attack of Ngurare on him – the leader of the [Swapo Party youth League] SPYL is ‘penniless’.
That Kazenambo was furious at that moment, we understand. And we understand too, that during times of such instinctive reactions – it certainly was not a carefully prepared statement – the truth comes to the fore so often.
We have to understand that this statement, if correct, would reflect rather well on Ngurare’s character. It would make him a man of honour and personal principles.
This because we hear so much about self-enrichment of our politicians, we hear about stealing not only of land but everything else, too, that Ngurare would, indeed, be a white sheep amongst many black ones.
Power corrupts; we not only know that from the history of humankind, no, we see it almost daily in Namibia. And if power corrupts, the corrupt and powerful aim at getting money, getting rich quickly to leave his or her penniless situation behind!
So, it really is good news what the minister said about Ngurare.
It is astonishing, almost incredible news – but we would like to believe it.
And we should think about something else in that connection. We should reflect on what is of value in those circles. Obviously, money tops the list there. Not morals, not the people’s needs, not one’s performance or what one achieves as a leader or not - no, it is all about money.
If you have money, you are a someone, if not, you are a nothing, you then are ‘penniless’, broke, materially and intellectual impoverished and not in ‘power’ – you are a non-entity.
No one would regard you as a man of character if you do not go after money; your peers will instead regard you as ‘stupid’.
Is that not our Namibian core problem since independence? If it is indeed so, we have to fight that attitude. We have to start anew; we have to create a new agenda, a new list of values.
This we have to do in our schools, in our churches and everywhere else in Namibia. We have to investigate our leaders, we have to look how much money they have, how they got it and what their business connections are.
Too many of them did not even have a bicycle or shoes when they entered politics and now they do not fit in certain motor cars any longer – it must be a Benz.
Watch out Namibia – something is not right in this young country!
‘From the Old Age Home’
Katutura