Guarantee Freedom Of Choice

‘I DO not agree with what you say, but I will defend to my death your right to say it’ Voltaire, 1694-1778-French philosopher
It’s an election year and we will be exercising our constitutional guaranteed rights to vote in a free, fair and credible election. Amongst, we have fundamental freedom of speech and to form and join political parties of our choice. Thus no party constitutionally formed and legally registered in Namibia is a wrong party irrespective of the support base enjoyed.

A substantive space was devoted in a local newspaper last week in an article entitled ‘Why I should vote for Swapo’. I have nothing against the writer’s right to freedom of expression; my argument rather is questioning the matters raised and the content and substance of the message considering the situation in reality. We would all want to vote for parties of our choice and let me simply start with the right to vote. Let me raise a voice for those in fear of losing their jobs or not getting a promotion or whatever unknown fear there is in our beloved country now, of members of the opposition or sympathisers, who happen to be at the level of the article writer or those in professional positions. We have heard rumbles and outburst and accusations, where many have even lost their jobs, threatened to be fired or not hired, their tenders or business proposals disappearing at offices that are supposed to uphold their clients’ confidentiality and adherence to the protection of others people’s business ideas and to just giving up hope in trying to tender or applying for a job simply because you already know the whole farce is window dressing. Many of us who can not afford to lose our bread are forced or left with no choice but to toe the line with political bullying tactics of the day, which is jobs for comrades or Swapo loyalists. Again it is the writer’s right to belong to a party of his choice-my choice thus here is ‘Why I will not vote for Swapo’. Not that I have personally experienced any form of the above abusive and constitutionally contradictory raised points but, I refuse to be coerced by bullying tactics against my fundamental human rights of making a choice without interference but out of conscience, free will/choice and without having to fear losing or not have a job.Boasting about schools, hospitals, roads, water, electricity, telecommunication etc. having been provided is lame to hear the least. Or is the writer implying that the Swapo government was supposed to govern for 19 years without instituting any form of development. Can someone tell me what else they were supposed to do if not providing these essential services to the nation while being the ruling party since independence celebrated at a stadium constructed by the so called imperialist South African apartheid regime. One should measure the capital developmental projects in tangible and prolific results. More than 50% of the population are under/unemployed, not more than 10% of the grade 12 leavers qualify for tertiary education and the perennial outcry of our nation on the health system. Wake up, smell the coffee and drive around the so called informal settlements of our city, on almost on every fifth kambashu is a Swapo flag. What does this say, doesn’t it ring a bell somewhere? Agapitus M HausikuVia e-mail