‘Cheap Politics’ On Opuwo Water Crisis

ALLOW me a space in your popular newspaper to express my disappointment on the above issue.Let me start with our Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Dr Abraham Iyambo.

Speaking in the Parliament last week Dr. Iyambo abused his position in the august House by requesting that Opposition Councillors of Opuwo Town Council be suspended with immediate effect because he claimed that ‘the DTA-led Council’ was endangering the lives of residents.I totally disagree with Dr.Iyambo’s accusations.My disagreements are based on the fact that our own Fisheries man might have forgotten that this is history repeating itself.During 2004 the same situation of water crises were evident in different towns in Namibia, for example Okakarara, Katima Mulilo, Karibib, just to mention a few.There were also reports of corrupt practices in different town e.g.Okahandja, Otjiwarongo etc.and Swapo councillors control many of these towns.I found it very difficult to understand why Dr Iyambo never before called for any Councillor from the aforesaid towns to be suspended, but is suddenly now calling for Opuwo councillors ‘to be suspended immediately’.There are also many reports about food rotting in different towns of our country, e.g.Katima Mulilo, Max Makushe Secondary School, and Osona Military Base.In addition to that there are many complaints from the workers of different fish factories or companies at Walvis Bay and Luderitz, but until today I never heard Dr.Iyambo calling for anyone to be suspended.And I don’t know if Dr Iyambo wants to seriously fight against corruption or whether he wants to play dirty politics in the land of the brave.Let me remind the good Dr of his millennium wedding since he appears to have a short memory.His unforgettable marriage scandal was the talk of town in Namibia during the year 1999.The letters requesting donations from the fishing industry for his wedding were clearly problematic.It should be noted that this was not only a serious misconduct on his part, but it construed gross violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia.I would also like to give a piece of advice to the good Dr to seriously take into consideration the stated Constitution and to always remember the oath he took when sworn in as Minister.If Dr Iyambo has all the qualities expected from each and every member of Parliament as stipulated in Article 45 of the Namibian Constitution, he should then lead by example and honestly and publicly apologise to the Namibian people for his unbecoming and gross misconduct.In fact he should been axed from the Parliament.Dr Iyambo, the Namibian people are still waiting for the squandered funds to be repaid in order to contribute towards bailing out the struggling fishing industries which are now busy retrenching workers, to prevent total closure.Would you be so kind and return the above-mentioned funds, which will not only benefit fishing industries but also their employees? Ananias Aipinge Kaseven-via e-mailIyambo abused his position in the august House by requesting that Opposition Councillors of Opuwo Town Council be suspended with immediate effect because he claimed that ‘the DTA-led Council’ was endangering the lives of residents.I totally disagree with Dr.Iyambo’s accusations.My disagreements are based on the fact that our own Fisheries man might have forgotten that this is history repeating itself.During 2004 the same situation of water crises were evident in different towns in Namibia, for example Okakarara, Katima Mulilo, Karibib, just to mention a few.There were also reports of corrupt practices in different town e.g.Okahandja, Otjiwarongo etc.and Swapo councillors control many of these towns.I found it very difficult to understand why Dr Iyambo never before called for any Councillor from the aforesaid towns to be suspended, but is suddenly now calling for Opuwo councillors ‘to be suspended immediately’.There are also many reports about food rotting in different towns of our country, e.g.Katima Mulilo, Max Makushe Secondary School, and Osona Military Base.In addition to that there are many complaints from the workers of different fish factories or companies at Walvis Bay and Luderitz, but until today I never heard Dr.Iyambo calling for anyone to be suspended.And I don’t know if Dr Iyambo wants to seriously fight against corruption or whether he wants to play dirty politics in the land of the brave.Let me remind the good Dr of his millennium wedding since he appears to have a short memory.His unforgettable marriage scandal was the talk of town in Namibia during the year 1999.The letters requesting donations from the fishing industry for his wedding were clearly problematic.It should be noted that this was not only a serious misconduct on his part, but it construed gross violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia.I would also like to give a piece of advice to the good Dr to seriously take into consideration the stated Constitution and to always remember the oath he took when sworn in as Minister.If Dr Iyambo has all the qualities expected from each and every member of Parliament as stipulated in Article 45 of the Namibian Constitution, he should then lead by example and honestly and publicly apologise to the Namibian people for his unbecoming and gross misconduct.In fact he should been axed from the Parliament.Dr Iyambo, the Namibian people are still waiting for the squandered funds to be repaid in order to contribute towards bailing out the struggling fishing industries which are now busy retrenching workers, to prevent total closure.Would you be so kind and return the above-mentioned funds, which will not only benefit fishing industries but also their employees? Ananias Aipinge Kaseven-via e-mail