As Good As Not Voting

ALLOW me to share my personal observations of the factors we need to understand are leading to poverty and unemployment in our wealthy region, the Kavango.

I have always observed that our people in the region though may lack initiatives for self-employment but they really try to make ends meet. The concern is that neo-colonialism has come to prevail in Kavango Region.
In the first place land is in most cases given to people with money and those far well-to-do with other resources in the name of development. This land is turned into lodges, tourist camps and farms along the Kavango River. Once this portion is sold out to them to develop those areas, local people do not again get access to the river as a source of water, food etc. They cannot even canoe alongside the area to go somewhere or else they risk being questioned why passing there.
Is Kavango River not a natural and national resource? Why sell it to someone who denies inhabitants access to their own resources? My only fear is that in the near future the whole riverside will be occupied by these outsiders. Our traditional leaders should look carefully at such people. They come humbly, but after getting land they turn against the leaders. A Kavango native in the near future will have no control and access to the Kavango River.
Secondly, some of our political leaders such as councillors do not really care about what is happening now and the effects of their decisions on future generations.
They turn a blind eye to some of these issues. That’s why they enjoy their five-year terms but leave the office without accomplishing much. After 23 years of independence the majority of our people are still drinking untreated water directly from the river and no electricity. These are basic needs people expect them to deliver. Our lives are very similar if not the same as not having them around or voted because we see little to no change for all the five-year terms they have been in those influential positions.

Maxmillian
Rundu

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