Political Perspective

IT seems obvious that the prolific number of white-collar thieves in our midst are unperturbed by either the President’s condemnation of graft, the formation of the Anti-Corruption Commission, or public opinion for that matter.

Nothing, it seems, bothers these rapists of our scarce resources, and we need to start examining the reasons why they take none of the warnings seriously. IMAGINE, among others, the disgrace of a top academic, in fact a Unam Pro Vice Chancellor, being busted for stealing computers, along with the head of the IT department, no less! Glad to hear, in this case at least, there were no delaying tactics and that the men in question have already been charged, granted bail, and ordered to hand in travel documents and report regularly to Police, as they are foreign nationals.Foreign or local is not the issue.The question is why the climate in Namibia seems so conducive to this sort of thing.And then never mind the academics, the problem seems to be rooted in the very heart of our law-enforcement agency, the Police, as well! Here too, certain high-ranking officials are being accused of theft, this most recent case apparently involving abuse of subsistence and travel allowances, among others.It is worrying that these incidents, as well as other consistent reporting of theft and corruption cases, don’t seem to impact much on public opinion.There is never the manifestation of outrage that one would expect in matters such as these, and that in itself is surprising: the fact that people don’t seem to care.If nothing else, they should think of the impact on our youth.They are constantly being exhorted to work harder, pay attention to their schoolwork, get good grades in order to later gain access to reputable tertiary institutions and thereafter, hopefully, attain qualifications that will prepare them for the job market.What’s the point, they may argue, under the circumstances where those supposed to be role models in the education and Police sectors, for example, make themselves guilty of gross abuse? So if we’ve got an uninspired, largely lethargic youth, who don’t see the need to put their shoulders to the wheel and work for the good of their future as well as that of the country, who’s to blame? The thing to do is to come down hard on those responsible.And especially, I say, people in positions of authority, whatever these may be.They must face the full wrath of the law, where, for example, in the case of theft on the part of homeless or unemployed persons, there should be room for compassion.If we do this, then we can begin to say we have a ‘justice’ system in place.Right now, largely speaking, we throw the book at ‘ordinary’ people, whereas the elite remain untouchable.Namibia needs to clean up its act vis-à-vis theft and corruption.It must do so regardless of whether there are measures in place or not to combat these evils.It is really our duty as citizens to ensure clean governance, whether it be central government, parastatal, private sector, academic institutions or law-enforcement agencies.I am afraid I am convinced that the measures we have and are putting in place, such as the Central Governance Agency or the Anti-Corruption Commission, cannot and will not work because we don’t want to empower them: either in terms of laws or resources.I won’t again recite the endless litany of cases against higher-ups which dissipate into nothing.Take the Social Security Commission (SSC) as an example.We’ve had a couple of incumbent CEOs who’ve basically got off the hook.Yes, we’re prosecuting the managers, and probably quite rightly so, but we’re letting the real perpetrators off the hook.They should not, in short, even be allowed to resign to escape redress.Namibia can only be truly free when we stop protecting those who are stealing.Our conscience should truly trouble us that there are those living in the lap of luxury due to ill-gotten gains, when some of our people are forced to eat rotten food.If it doesn’t, then we’re in worse trouble than I thought.IMAGINE, among others, the disgrace of a top academic, in fact a Unam Pro Vice Chancellor, being busted for stealing computers, along with the head of the IT department, no less! Glad to hear, in this case at least, there were no delaying tactics and that the men in question have already been charged, granted bail, and ordered to hand in travel documents and report regularly to Police, as they are foreign nationals.Foreign or local is not the issue.The question is why the climate in Namibia seems so conducive to this sort of thing.And then never mind the academics, the problem seems to be rooted in the very heart of our law-enforcement agency, the Police, as well! Here too, certain high-ranking officials are being accused of theft, this most recent case apparently involving abuse of subsistence and travel allowances, among others.It is worrying that these incidents, as well as other consistent reporting of theft and corruption cases, don’t seem to impact much on public opinion.There is never the manifestation of outrage that one would expect in matters such as these, and that in itself is surprising: the fact that people don’t seem to care.If nothing else, they should think of the impact on our youth.They are constantly being exhorted to work harder, pay attention to their schoolwork, get good grades in order to later gain access to reputable tertiary institutions and thereafter, hopefully, attain qualifications that will prepare them for the job market.What’s the point, they may argue, under the circumstances where those supposed to be role models in the education and Police sectors, for example, make themselves guilty of gross abuse? So if we’ve got an uninspired, largely lethargic youth, who don’t see the need to put their shoulders to the wheel and work for the good of their future as well as that of the country, who’s to blame? The thing to do is to come down hard on those responsible.And especially, I say, people in positions of authority, whatever these may be.They must face the full wrath of the law, where, for example, in the case of theft on the part of homeless or unemployed persons, there should be room for compassion.If we do this, then we can begin to say we have a ‘justice’ system in place.Right now, largely speaking, we throw the book at ‘ordinary’ people, whereas the elite remain untouchable.Namibia needs to clean up its act vis-à-vis theft and corruption.It must do so regardless of whether there are measures in place or not to combat these evils.It is really our duty as citizens to ensure clean governance, whether it be central government, parastatal, private sector, academic institutions or law-enforcement agencies.I am afraid I am convinced that the measures we have and are putting in place, such as the Central Governance Agency or the Anti-Corruption Commission, cannot and will not work because we don’t want to empower them: either in terms of laws or resources.I won’t again recite the endless litany of cases against higher-ups which dissipate into nothing.Take the Social Security Commission (SSC) as an example.We’ve had a couple of incumbent CEOs who’ve basically got off the hook.Yes, we’re prosecuting the managers, and probably quite rightly so, but we’re letting the real perpetrators off the hook.They should not, in short, even be allowed to resign to escape redress.Namibia can only be truly free when we stop protecting those who are stealing.Our conscience should truly trouble us that there are those living in the lap of luxury due to ill-gotten gains, when some of our people are forced to eat rotten food.If it doesn’t, then we’re in worse trouble than I thought.