Leaders Have Lost Touch

ALLOW me to air my opinion regarding the so-called proposed ‘Regulatory Body for the Media in Namibia’.

As a starter, I just can’t imagine what the name of this body should be, let alone the composition. What the government is trying to do here is to take full control of civic society.I am not sure if we have noticed that we have a very under-developed, although diverse, civic society.”Ever since I took over as a Minister of Information and Broadcasting, I have been calling on the media to get a media council in order to accommodate complaints from the public.The argument that laws are in place to deal with media transgressors do not hold water, simply because the process of going to court is expensive, tedious and it takes too long.”Cde Nandi-Ndaitwah please, don’t you think as a cost-cutting measure we should rectify the processes and costs of the courts first? Instead of setting up another doomed money-guzzling body? Regardless, many thanks for confirming how hopeless our court systems are even if it has taken you 17 years to notice that.In the same vein, Hon Nandi-Ndaitwah, I hope you have taken up the issue with the relevant line ministry.In my view, national issues e.g.increased poverty, high unemployment, increasing crime rate, housing problems, recent water and electricity blunders and the increasing cost of living, are all thorny issues that our government has bluntly failed to address properly and these should be issues of priority in any given country rather than wanting to concentrate on setting-up some silly regulatory bodies that will silence media and probably hide information from the public.What is the general public view regarding this? Over a week, I did a small survey among friends and associates, the general perception is that: people want bread, jobs, better health facilities, improved education, better road conditions etc and not bodies to regulate the media at the moment.For the past 17 years, we have been blaming colonialism for under-developing our own country and no wonder why most (if not all) of our leaders’ speeches always consist of the same old songs e.g.liberated this country, freedom, imperialist, struggle, independence etc.Do we really need to hear this over and over again for 17 years? Ask the very same question to any ordinary person on the street, the answer is obvious.I would strongly recommend our current leadership organise a refresher workshop as a matter of urgency as there is clear evidence that they have lost touch completely.It’s time to move on and concentrate on issues of national interest.You don’t need a degree in rocket science to develop a country.E Tjiueza, WindhoekWhat the government is trying to do here is to take full control of civic society.I am not sure if we have noticed that we have a very under-developed, although diverse, civic society.”Ever since I took over as a Minister of Information and Broadcasting, I have been calling on the media to get a media council in order to accommodate complaints from the public.The argument that laws are in place to deal with media transgressors do not hold water, simply because the process of going to court is expensive, tedious and it takes too long.”Cde Nandi-Ndaitwah please, don’t you think as a cost-cutting measure we should rectify the processes and costs of the courts first? Instead of setting up another doomed money-guzzling body? Regardless, many thanks for confirming how hopeless our court systems are even if it has taken you 17 years to notice that.In the same vein, Hon Nandi-Ndaitwah, I hope you have taken up the issue with the relevant line ministry.In my view, national issues e.g.increased poverty, high unemployment, increasing crime rate, housing problems, recent water and electricity blunders and the increasing cost of living, are all thorny issues that our government has bluntly failed to address properly and these should be issues of priority in any given country rather than wanting to concentrate on setting-up some silly regulatory bodies that will silence media and probably hide information from the public.What is the general public view regarding this? Over a week, I did a small survey among friends and associates, the general perception is that: people want bread, jobs, better health facilities, improved education, better road conditions etc and not bodies to regulate the media at the moment.For the past 17 years, we have been blaming colonialism for under-developing our own country and no wonder why most (if not all) of our leaders’ speeches always consist of the same old songs e.g.liberated this country, freedom, imperialist, struggle, independence etc.Do we really need to hear this over and over again for 17 years? Ask the very same question to any ordinary person on the street, the answer is obvious.I would strongly recommend our current leadership organise a refresher workshop as a matter of urgency as there is clear evidence that they have lost touch completely.It’s time to move on and concentrate on issues of national interest.You don’t need a degree in rocket science to develop a country.E Tjiueza, Windhoek