A message from Minister Toivo ya Toivo on his 80th birthday

I WOULD like to thank the Namibian people for having prayed outright for me while I was still in the freezer and while I was being harassed by the Van der Merwes and they wanted me to end up there.

But I vowed to myself that all their attempts were doomed to failure. I succeeded in seeing and enjoying the Independence of the Land of the Brave for the past 14 years and those who were looking after me – they wanted to destroy me physically, mentally and otherwise – some of them are no more, but I am still here and I would like the young Namibian people to follow my example.For one to reach the age of 80 years is not a joke, but one has to be disciplined and one also has to work harder because work makes us what we are and it is good exercise.That’s what I do.I do my exercises every morning and this is my medicine.It has kept me going for the past 80 years and I would like the young people to follow this good example.Not only to take a beer and forget everything and do nasty things.That’s not what I expect them to do.They must not drink and forget their names.There are those who forget their names and get involved in nasty things.That’s not what I want.Also we have an animal called HIV-AIDS and people must be careful.Namibians must be hard workers, all of us, black and white, green and red, yellow and blue, so that we can make Namibia a real Namibian nation for all of us.We are required to work harder now than ever before in order for us to develop our country and our economy.For the students at schools, they must work harder because we need engineers, doctors, lawyers and professional people to make this country of ours the best country to live in.We have succeeded in achieving our political Independence.It took us a long time to achieve that, but we are now faced by an economic struggle.And this will take longer than the political struggle, but where there is a will, there is always a way.I am a believer in the Namibian people:that once they set out to do something, there is no doubt they will succeed – no matter what occurs.Therefore let us hold our hands as brothers and sisters, to strive for the development of our economy.That’s the message I have for the Namibian people.ANDIMBA TOIVO YA TOIVOI succeeded in seeing and enjoying the Independence of the Land of the Brave for the past 14 years and those who were looking after me – they wanted to destroy me physically, mentally and otherwise – some of them are no more, but I am still here and I would like the young Namibian people to follow my example.For one to reach the age of 80 years is not a joke, but one has to be disciplined and one also has to work harder because work makes us what we are and it is good exercise.That’s what I do.I do my exercises every morning and this is my medicine.It has kept me going for the past 80 years and I would like the young people to follow this good example.Not only to take a beer and forget everything and do nasty things.That’s not what I expect them to do.They must not drink and forget their names.There are those who forget their names and get involved in nasty things.That’s not what I want.Also we have an animal called HIV-AIDS and people must be careful.Namibians must be hard workers, all of us, black and white, green and red, yellow and blue, so that we can make Namibia a real Namibian nation for all of us.We are required to work harder now than ever before in order for us to develop our country and our economy.For the students at schools, they must work harder because we need engineers, doctors, lawyers and professional people to make this country of ours the best country to live in.We have succeeded in achieving our political Independence.It took us a long time to achieve that, but we are now faced by an economic struggle.And this will take longer than the political struggle, but where there is a will, there is always a way.I am a believer in the Namibian people:that once they set out to do something, there is no doubt they will succeed – no matter what occurs.Therefore let us hold our hands as brothers and sisters, to strive for the development of our economy.That’s the message I have for the Namibian people.ANDIMBA TOIVO YA TOIVO