SMSes of Tuesday 9 February 2010
* DEAR President (Hifikepunye) Pohamba, please request an audit report on all Namibian ambassadors abroad. Analyse their performance and let go of non-performers. Ambassadors in Namibia know what they want from us. Do our ambassadors know what we need from other nations?
Food for Thought
* IN the face of persistent attacks on the judiciary I believe it is our duty as good Namibians to raise our voices and serve as a veritable defence for our learned judges. In its Constitutional obligation to administer and implement the laws of this country (without fear or favour), the judiciary should neither flinch nor tremble as a result of hostile attack by critics who tend to deal in matters for which they were not qualified. Such critics should know that judges are not law-makers but simply law implementers and for that matter they are behaving like a dog barking at a wrong tree. In my vernacular they say ‘inashiljambwa nashilje omukongo – meaning ‘let it not attack the dog but rather attack the hunter’.
– Wala wokOmongwa
Bouquets and Brickbats
* THANKS for the SMS on Friday about the immigration officer selling sweets at the counter. I’m also a regular traveller and I saw this happening. The officer needs to be disciplined by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
* IT makes sense that the unemployment rate is above 50. People who are heading the labour statistics department should learn to publish reports with Cabinet approval on time before the information is outdated. Bank of Namibia, what happened to your partnership with the Ministry of Labour on statistics? The director and his head of divisions should just resign.
– Disappointed by Ministry of Labour!
* THE Namibian, since Grade 1 we are taught that the English word for “pap” is porridge! “Pap” is Afrikaans!
– Correct, it is Afrikaans for porridge. However in some cases, as in the popular dish “pap and vleis”, it has become common practice to use it in that way.
– Newsdesk
* LAST Thursday, someone wrote: The Polytechnic is now demanding 25 points in 5 subjects instead of 6 because it is now a university. What arrogance! Lawmakers made it a Polytechnic and now you just change it to gratify your own egos.
* IT’S quite amazing how divergent an opinion can be especially when it comes from public office bearers. “Well done (Information) Minister (Joel) Kapaanda”. For what? Informing the nation about the former president’s weapons purchase or spreading propaganda exactly as planned? The logic in the encouragement is beyond my comprehension indeed.
Politics
* WHAT happened to the idea of an exclusive political party for women? Nothing on earth equals the care of a mother for her children and what is a country other than one big household?
* TO understand the plight of youth, you first have to be in their shoes. Frank Fredericks could be a good contender as Minister of that portfolio. I hope that with the new Cabinet, His Excellency (Hifikepunye) Pohamba is going to focus on a performance-oriented Cabinet rather than who knows who. How about getting (Johan) de Waal (of the DTA) over to Swapo?
Politics in General
* COUNTRIES with the highest infant mortality rate, nine out of the 10 are from Africa. Angola, who’s president is amongst the 10 richest people in the world tops the list.
General
* WHY are people always aiming at catering to rich tourists only. Overlanders and backpackers are a large market and with money tight, the best hope to maintain our industry.
* I AM a keen reader of your daily Top 10 of everything. As a suggestion, could you benchmark Namibia against the top 10 countries? Example in the edition of today (Monday) you looked at countries with the highest infant mortality rate. Which place in this order does Namibia occupy?
– We will check it out and report back.
– Newsdesk
In and From the Regions
* THE Prime Minister (Nahas Angula) said all the lazy civil servants must be fired. It should start with the Otjozondjupa Regional Council, senior officials are always absent from duty. Mr (Paulus) Nao there is a lot to work there, we at constituency offices are tired.
* TO King Kauluma and Boas Mweendeleli. We need a meeting at King Kauluma to come and clear the issue of land occupancy. Make it clear to all residents occupying Mombele farm to leave but not some individuals. We fought for this land in order for us to have piece of land to plough. Leaders don’t wait until land has been developed before you chase people! Why didn’t you take actions while people were busy clearing up all the trees and bushes?
And Justice for All
* LAWYERS, please have correct names of the defendants. You cannot just take names from your clients which are not the legal names on the identity cards. I need feedback. If I am wrong, what is correct?
Health Matters
* WHAT are the procedures to be followed when a family is confronted with alcohol or drug addiction? During the colonial era families could obtain court warrants and the family member in question was taken to a rehabilitation centre. Editor please we seek a reply in this regard.
– Response from the Legal Assistance Centre: If there is a child involved, the Children’s Act of 1960 applies. A court could order that the child should be removed from the home and placed in a rehabilitation centre if the child who has the addiction is not receiving appropriate family support. The Child Care and Protection Act will replace the Children’s Act of 1960 but has not yet been tabled in Parliament. It will allow for similar procedures. The Child Care and Protection Act will also allow the court to make orders for the parents. For example if the parent has the addiction, the parent could be ordered to take part in a rehabilitation programmes or to attend classes. The removal of a child from the home is always a last resort. If you think that court intervention is required, you should contact a social worker or a police officer.
– Newsdesk
Labour Issues
* THE Ministry of Health should start looking at what is chasing registered nurses from the ministry to private companies. For example the salaries. The ministry must do something before it loses all the registered nurses.
City Fathers Please...
* CITY of Windhoek, please think about shifting Goreangab’s sewerage dams somewhere else. The smell affects our areas.
* TATE (John Otto) Nankudhu come and rescue us in Luanda Street, Wanaheda. That road is a nightmare for our cars .
General
* PRESIDENT (Hifikepunye) Pohamba reportedly stated that this year will be the year of service delivery and poverty reduction. He also mentioned the Green Scheme as an aiding mechanism. This is encouraging, however the agronomic industry (millers and producers) fix the price of maize and wheat, despite the fact that Namibian borders are closed during the marketing period. They have no competition from foreign businesses then. So the protection they have is at the expense of the people who depend on them as they don’t compete. Therefore, let us do away with the marketing agreement since the horticulture producers (vegetables and fruit) don’t have a marketing agreement.
* A SHARE from our pension money. This is a humble request to our own Namibian government to give us a 10 per cent share of our pension money, and tax free, every five years . We don’t know if we will reach the retirement age because of diseases like HIV, high blood pressure and others.
* IS the Namibian Government going to change the NDF uniform for a better quality one. The present one is of poor quality and it does not look professional. One more thing, I don’t think it has been gazetted since many people in the rural areas are using it any way they feel like.
– Worried civil servant.
NBC
* WHEN is NBC going to improve on their local sports reporting? On Sunday evening they only gave results of two NPL games played on Saturday, even though more than two games were played. We want all the results.
* IT is so unfortunate that the NBC is only presenting the views of one candidate in the Okahandja by-election. Do we still ascribe to One Namibia, One Nation in our diversity?
– Sheya
Lost and Found
* UUZIUA Sodia’s documents have been found. Please call T-Square 081-295-2145.
* I FOUND Lukas Teofilus Ndahepa’s passport. Contact 081-268-5323.
Service Please
* G4S, of late, when the alarm goes off, do not phone anymore, nor do they send a car to check if everything is in place. At times they can take close to 15 to 20 minutes to call one. My neighbours are also concerned. We do not know if they have changed the policy. If so, at least as clients we expect them to inform us about any changes taking place. Very soon we will find our houses broken into. We are very worried. Remember, we pay regularly and on time. Hence, we expect good and quality service, that is a prompt response.
* STANDARD Bank, when will you consider opening a branch at Opuwo?
– Abel