Dream Or Nightmare?

LIKE a respected leader before me, I have a Namibian dream, and if it could come true, half if not all of our country’s problems will be a thing of the past.

During the apartheid struggle, Namibians fought side by side for the independence of their country. Today, after many years of independence, we still cling to political parties, use political positions and power to suppress the same people we fought side by side with many years ago.The quickest and easiest way to sink a ship is to make a big enough hole in its hull, and then everyone on board will be at risk, including those who made the hole.The million dollar question will then be, why would any right-thinking person want to do that to a ship on which he is a passenger? Namibia, our beloved country, is the ship, which is carrying all people of different backgrounds, cultures, colours, religion, politics, ethnic groups etc.We are a small population of around two million people, of which half or less are children and pensioners, and we are sitting on a ship with, diamonds, gold, uranium, cattle, zinc, fish, and more, but for some inexplicable reason, our government cannot afford to give children a free education, the same education which is the backbone of every developing country.The horrible truth about our country is, most young people today who commit crime, are between the ages of 12 and 35, and I truly believe that 95per cent of all the young criminals are uneducated, coming out of poor households, deprived of school due to a lack of money, dead parents, divorced parents, one or both in jail, so, these kids are left to fend for themselves.Looking for a job is no option, because they don’t have grade 12, so they start with petty theft, steal, rob, rape, even get promoted to killing, until they become good at it, just like any profession.A child is usually taught from an early age, the difference between right and wrong, without parents, he gets taught by criminal friends survival skills.Here is my dream I mentioned before.1) What is the job of our Defence Force, because if there is a war out there I don’t know about, then I must have missed the news.They get paid monthly, eat three meals a day for free I assume, run around the bush and back, and then what? Why don’t we incorporate the army personnel and some of their vehicles into the police – give them courses on policing and on how to interact with people and we expand our police without adding to our police budget.The last time I checked, history has taught us that war is not won on the battlefield, but through dialogue, and if the need for soldiers arises, they can change into their army gear and get to the battlefields.2) It must become a law in Namibia that all children must attend school – it must be compulsory, and schools must be free of charge.The more children we send to school, and get a good education, the less thugs and thieves and robbers we will have.Remember they are not stealing and robbing because it’s fun, but because desperate people fear nothing.The return on this investment will be many.Nelson Kavita Via e-mail Note: This letter has been shortened – EdToday, after many years of independence, we still cling to political parties, use political positions and power to suppress the same people we fought side by side with many years ago.The quickest and easiest way to sink a ship is to make a big enough hole in its hull, and then everyone on board will be at risk, including those who made the hole.The million dollar question will then be, why would any right-thinking person want to do that to a ship on which he is a passenger? Namibia, our beloved country, is the ship, which is carrying all people of different backgrounds, cultures, colours, religion, politics, ethnic groups etc.We are a small population of around two million people, of which half or less are children and pensioners, and we are sitting on a ship with, diamonds, gold, uranium, cattle, zinc, fish, and more, but for some inexplicable reason, our government cannot afford to give children a free education, the same education which is the backbone of every developing country.The horrible truth about our country is, most young people today who commit crime, are between the ages of 12 and 35, and I truly believe that 95per cent of all the young criminals are uneducated, coming out of poor households, deprived of school due to a lack of money, dead parents, divorced parents, one or both in jail, so, these kids are left to fend for themselves.Looking for a job is no option, because they don’t have grade 12, so they start with petty theft, steal, rob, rape, even get promoted to killing, until they become good at it, just like any profession.A child is usually taught from an early age, the difference between right and wrong, without parents, he gets taught by criminal friends survival skills.Here is my dream I mentioned before.1) What is the job of our Defence Force, because if there is a war out there I don’t know about, then I must have missed the news.They get paid monthly, eat three meals a day for free I assume, run around the bush and back, and then what? Why don’t we incorporate the army personnel and some of their vehicles into the police – give them courses on policing and on how to interact with people and we expand our police without adding to our police budget.The last time I checked, history has taught us that war is not won on the battlefield, but through dialogue, and if the need for soldiers arises, they can change into their army gear and get to the battlefields.2) It must become a law in Namibia that all children must attend school – it must be compulsory, and schools must be free of charge.The more children we send to school, and get a good education, the less thugs and thieves and robbers we will have.Remember they are not stealing and robbing because it’s fun, but because desperate people fear nothing.The return on this investment will be many. Nelson Kavita Via e-mail Note: This letter has been shortened – Ed