Loose Laws, Deadly Consequences

In 2021 police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga issued an order that the drivers of government vehicles should not be slapped with traffic fines over expired licences.

The written instruction was issued to all police regional commanders at the request of then home affairs executive director Etienne Maritz.

Breakdowns in law and order often start with supposedly innocuous ‘exemptions’ like that of Ndeitunga and Maritz, but degenerate to dangerous and even fatal levels as basic safety measures are ignored or treated carelessly.

Human nature does not respect titles or egos.

Namibians should thus not be surprised by the horrific deaths of 16 people at Mariental in a head-on collision between two government vehicles – one belonging to the prison services and the other to the police.

It has become a habit for officers and top government leaders to disregard the very laws they make and which they are employed to promote/enforce.

The prisons van was crammed with jail guards. Twelve of them died. Two police officers and two civilians in the other vehicle lost their lives.

Traffic rules are strict about transporting humans like cargo in a bakkie.

A few years ago, there was an attempt to pass a law exempting so-called VVIP vehicles from heeding basic traffic signs, such as not stopping under a bridge.

It is not clear whether the proposed move went through. Yet it was another example of lawmakers and enforcers believing regulations should not apply to them.

Sadly, the deaths of 16 people in one accident is a costly reminder that ‘no one is above the law’ is not merely a slogan to keep civilians in check.
Laws are not made for the weak and to be broken by the strong.

Police officers have in the past complained that top government leaders disregard basic law-enforcement requests.

In fact, some VVIPs drive so recklessly they have caused the death of civilians and continue to get away with murder, literally.

The death of more than a dozen security personnel in a head-on collision between law-enforcement vehicles is a reminder of the urgent need for a change in attitude towards the law by those who should be promoting order.

Safety regulations are for the common good. They are not merely about politicking. They are about life and death.

NIPDB: Dumping the Baby with the Bathwater

THE GOVERNMENT SEEMS

to be doing exactly what The Namibian and promoters of economic investment have warned against: Do not throw the NIPDB out with the bathwater.

The creation of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) was not without its detractors.

Those at the forefront of opposing the NIPDB were political foes of president Hage Geingob within Swapo itself.

But, bulldozer that he was, Geingob didn’t bother to buy political and social capital for such an important institution (read Robin Sherbourne’s article in The Namibian).

Geingob aggravated matters by perhaps hiring people in his mould.

Hence Nangula Uaandja likely felt she could run the NIPDB without buy-in from some Cabinet members or other senior bureaucrats.

Geingob tired of it and the NIPDB’s demise was soon on the horizon long before the president’s health crises were made public.

We again appeal to president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to give the vital work on investment promotion the clout and support it deserves, rather than downgrading it to what failed for decades under the anaemic Namibia Investment Centre.

The NIPDB is not about Uaandja or ‘Hage’s people’ (whoever they might be).

Namibia needs foreign investors and not uncertainty.
Please do not throw the baby out with the bathwater, unless you are opposed to strong investment and don’t want to see a thriving private sector.

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