Now Or Never For Namibia

I HAVE spent the past five months in your country and it has been one of the most fantastic experiences of my life.

What an amazing place you all live in – alive with such natural wonders, warm people, achievement, possibility and hope. Daily I read your papers, two of them each day.Stories of achievement, selflessness, tragedy, waste and corruption.One has to wonder whether can Namibia make it over the line, it seems you are teetering on the brink.Are you the next country on this great continent to decay into lawlessness due to corruption and selfishness? Or can you see your way through, bringing those responsible to justice and continuing to march towards a brighter future for all? I have met such wonderful people and witnessed great charity in my time here I thought without doubt it was the latter, and that you were on the verge of great things.But now my illusions have been shattered.I witnessed the worst of the worst, something that seems to be endemic, with a solution that does not seem to be in sight.My husband and I stopped at around 20h30 at the Shell garage in Vineta to pick up fresh milk.My husband went in and I waited in the car.I noticed a female police officer escorting a young man from his car across the front of the garage.I realised he was either drunk or drugged and leaning heavily on the officer.Perhaps she was taking him to be arrested, or to sleep it off somewhere, before getting back into his car.But to my horror they proceeded to the cash machine.I put my window down, I was quite close to the machine and watched intently.The female police officer noticed me watching but seemed undeterred.The young man loaded his card and put in his PIN number, she then punched some numbers in the screen, I presume the amount.They waited, as did I, stunned that I was witnessing this first hand.The money came out, she took it, and put it in her pocket, he took his card.Plain as day.She turned, smiled and waved at me.I shook my head but was too uncertain of my position to do anything else.She clearly understood that she had been seen, but was so glib about it as to wave at me.He staggered back to his car and she went into the garage and started chatting to the desk clerk.It was done.One more drunk or drugged driver on your roads.Whose child or young teenager would die that night at this man’s hand? Who will stand at the graveside of their loved one wondering why? I can tell you why, because your public servants will take a bribe of a few hundred dollars and risk the lives of many.To the drugged/drunk young man, may he burn in hell for the potential lives he recklessly put at risk.To the female police officer, may the next 10 innocent children who die in this country at the hand of drugged/drunk drivers burn into your consciousness and live with you forever, for you play as much a hand in their deaths as the drivers themselves.May it torture your soul and cause you the same amount of unlimited anguish as will be borne by the families of the loved ones who die at this persons hand, you deserve that and more.Namibia, poverty is no longer an excuse.If you wish to become part of the first world then rise above it and take a stand, it must stop somewhere.To those who serve the public, you are the first line, you set the example to those who follow in your footsteps.Excuses must end and dignity must overcome, the buck must stop, make it with yourself.Public servants in this country must realise that they are employed to serve the public, not themselves.You take a wage from an emerging government to uphold dignity, community and responsibility.You have a social responsibility and it is time you are accountable for it.You owe it to Namibia and her people until you do then nothing can change.Everything is in place.It is now up to your own moral compasses to guide you to the bright future that you so richly deserve.Get it together Namibia, the time is now! J M Rivers Via e-mailDaily I read your papers, two of them each day.Stories of achievement, selflessness, tragedy, waste and corruption.One has to wonder whether can Namibia make it over the line, it seems you are teetering on the brink.Are you the next country on this great continent to decay into lawlessness due to corruption and selfishness? Or can you see your way through, bringing those responsible to justice and continuing to march towards a brighter future for all? I have met such wonderful people and witnessed great charity in my time here I thought without doubt it was the latter, and that you were on the verge of great things.But now my illusions have been shattered.I witnessed the worst of the worst, something that seems to be endemic, with a solution that does not seem to be in sight.My husband and I stopped at around 20h30 at the Shell garage in Vineta to pick up fresh milk.My husband went in and I waited in the car.I noticed a female police officer escorting a young man from his car across the front of the garage.I realised he was either drunk or drugged and leaning heavily on the officer.Perhaps she was taking him to be arrested, or to sleep it off somewhere, before getting back into his car.But to my horror they proceeded to the cash machine.I put my window down, I was quite close to the machine and watched intently.The female police officer noticed me watching but seemed undeterred.The young man loaded his card and put in his PIN number, she then punched some numbers in the screen, I presume the amount.They waited, as did I, stunned that I was witnessing this first hand.The money came out, she took it, and put it in her pocket, he took his card.Plain as day.She turned, smiled and waved at me.I shook my head but was too uncertain of my position to do anything else.She clearly understood that she had been seen, but was so glib about it as to wave at me.He staggered back to his car and she went into the garage and started chatting to the desk clerk.It was done.One more drunk or drugged driver on your roads.Whose child or young teenager would die that night at this man’s hand? Who will stand at the graveside of their loved one wondering why? I can tell you why, because your public servants will take a bribe of a few hundred dollars and risk the lives of many.To the drugged/drunk young man, may he burn in hell for the potential lives he recklessly put at risk.To the female police officer, may the next 10 innocent children who die in this country at the hand of drugged/drunk drivers burn into your consciousness and live with you forever, for you play as much a hand in their deaths as the drivers themselves.May it torture your soul and cause you the same amount of unlimited anguish as will be borne by the families of the loved ones who die at this persons hand, you deserve that and more.Namibia, poverty is no longer an excuse.If you wish to become part of the first world then rise above it and take a stand, it must stop somewhere.To those who serve the public, you are the first line, you set the example to those who follow in your footsteps.Excuses must end and dignity must overcome, the buck must stop, make it with yourself.Public servants in this country must realise that they are employed to serve the public, not themselves.You take a wage from an emerging government to uphold dignity, community and responsibility.You have a social responsibility and it is time you are accountable for it.You owe it to Namibia and her people until you do then nothing can change.Everything is in place.It is now up to your own moral compasses to guide you to the bright future that you so richly deserve.Get it together Namibia, the time is now! J M Rivers Via e-mail