Save Us From Ignorance And Arrogance

‘LIES, damned lies, and statistics’. The above quote appeared in The Namibian of Friday, 1st October 2010. Apparently, it is the Trade and Industry Minister, Hage Geingob, who said it, in reaction to the recent official statistics on unemployment in Namibia.

Well, this is exactly where the problem starts. If you have leaders who are simply in air-conditioned offices, living in luxury in top of the mountain farmhouses, driving a multiple of top-of-the-range vehicles, and getting all the allowances including monthly food and entertainment on top of their wages, then you will have a serious problem to develop a country and reduce unemployment. If the Minister is in denial of the national official statistics, does he have alternative figures or methodologies to support his argument? If the Minister is allergic to quantitative statistics let me offer him some qualitative perspectives of where things are in this country. Minister, those of us who have travelled around most corners of this country can tell you, even without statistics, that the majority of our people are suffering. You want to weep when you see the predicament of these fellow citizens. I have known many starving households both in urban and rural areas for decades without any improvement. I am a friend to many people who finished grade 12 about 20 years ago but are still looking for jobs; quite apart from those who did not matriculate. If you are originally came from the village, like me, you would notice that the same people remain where they were and the new ones are joining the unemployment ranks straight from schools. And if the Minister does not mind, I can take him there to see for himself. Is the aware that there has been upward trend in the rate of unemployment since independence? Is he informed that even those with formal jobs are failing to make ends meet due to low wages and many dependants including the unemployed adults? This very high level of unemployment is responsible for social problems such as crime, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, domestic abuse, prostitution, and diseases including HIV-AIDS.In future, I propose that all MPs and key leaders must conduct a countrywide familiarisation tour in order to see how ordinary people are living. This would probably drive out some level of ignorance and contribute to quality debates in our legislature. I have increasingly observed that Namibia suffers a great deal of institutional and policy failures which are the major cause of economic stagnation and income inequality and inequities. Most of this can be attributed to lack of energy from key leaders to push implementation of policies and strategies. This must be addressed with immediate effect. Finally, let me reiterate that acute unemployment and absolute poverty and their consequential evils are real on Namibian soil. May the Lord save Namibia from ignorance and arrogance.P Muteyauli Via e-mail