SMS Of The Day

n ALL Namibians, regardless of which political party you belong to, must seriously fight against corruption. Donors, even those funding ARVs, food for drought relief, roads etc, may pull out. After all, it will be the poor people who suffer the most. Enjoy politics consciously.

Food for Thoughtn SOMEONE from West Africa wrote an SMS in this space on November 2 telling Namibians to appreciate what we have and the peace and democracy we enjoy. I am a well-travelled Namibian, in Africa and Europe, and I couldn’t help but agree with the writer. Namibia is a very special country where people live relatively happily and free. Unfortunately many of those who have not gone beyond the borders are so closed-minded and hence are unable to appreciate the good and peaceful life that we enjoy. To some countries’ citizens, a cruel, lawless, corrupt, brutal and merciless life full of poverty is all they have ever known. As an example if you happen to be involved in an accident in one of our neighbouring countries, you will be forced to pay on the spot whether you are wrong or not. The reason being: ‘if you did not come to my country, my car was not going to be like this!’ There are other countless similar shocking experiences.- WE do indeed have a wonderful country, with an exciting young democracy. That is why it is imperative that that we all work hard to make sure it stays that way in the interests of all its citizens. – NewsdeskBouquetsand Brickbatsn THANKS FNB Karibib for your friendly service. I am a foreigner but your staff made me feel as if I’m in my own country. Keep up the good work!Chinese Scholarshipsn (JUSTICE Minister) Pendukeni (Ithana) said Swapo Party is suing HH and the RDP for revealing that they have been stealing elections. Okahandja and Gobabis ballots? She is running away from Chinese bursary scandal. n LET us stick to the rules of democracy. If we elect political representatives to run the Government for four years they must be, and they are, accountable to the people, the electorate, not to their families as is the case with the Chinese bursaries. The Swapo politicians should not regard being a minister and deputy minister as a career where they can be rich and enrich their families. The Chinese bursary issue is a serious scandal for the government. Corrupt politicians should be removed, and let Namibia continue to speak out. That should be the rule of the game. n CHINESE bursaries. Shame on you people. Is that not daylight robbery from the capable poor? They have been cheating. We will talk louder now.n THE ACC has lost direction. Mr (Paulus) Noa must come out to explain to the public that the ACC is not for senior officials in the government. If for all, why has there been no action taken about those involved with the Chinese bursaries? ACC please do your job.n STOP discriminating against children related to top government officials. They also have the right to scholarships. Who says they are being supported financially by their uncles, aunts, fathers. So these kids must not even be given jobs or what. How many officials have been in the newspaper for failing to pay maintenance for their kids? Where do you draw the line? Good luck with your studies in China. You also fall under previously disadvantaged.n THE Chinese bursaries were for the poor. The President and the ministers were supposed to reject the bursaries. Those are corrupt practices. That means our leaders are corrupt?- ECn SINCE the Minister claims that not all bursaries from foreign governments are advertised he is implying that the ordinary man cannot know about them. But high government officials know, as I believe that any government will inform its counterpart who is receiving assistance.n CAN Minister Mbumba provide the public with information about all students, their parents, guardians and the grades they received and who received scholarships from the governments of China, Cuba, Russia or any other government that gave scholarships to Namibian students? Can the Minister provide further information on the cost, duration and fields of study for the students? Can they also provide information on the dates and newspapers in which the scholarships were advertised? n MINISTRY of Education applications for study loans require that applicants submit the latest salary documents of their parents to determine if they are really needy or whether their parents can afford to pay for their tertiary education. What were the criteria for awarding Chinese scholarships? – Washamba.Politicsn I WANT to voice a concern and ask our lawmakers. Until when and to what extent should we cater for the Chinese? First it was the construction business, now they are transporting goods from Walvis Bay to the North. Who is paying who? In and Fromthe Regionsn RUNDU Town Council CEO please do something. Cars have increased drastically. Give us a traffic light to avoid accidents.- Concerned resident.Need working water metersn OTJIWARONGO Municipality, please put in an advert for a qualified instrumentation mechanic or technician to service, maintain and do installation of your water meters which are currently a pain in our town. For more information on those meters please ask Arandis Town Council, otherwise you will find yourselves with bad debts.n CAN someone please inform us about who are the people to receive oshikukuta [food aid]. Because if there is one person working in the house you cannot receive it. That’s what is happening in Onelago (No 2) in Ondangwa constituency. But we are all affected by the flood. That’s not fair! Mr Uguanga councillor do something please!n DEAR concerned Tsumeber, if you look at your programme you will see that it states all stalls to be closed at 22h00. The Copper Festival is no longer there to promote SMEs but instead it promotes drinking. There where around 50 stalls for alcohol and 20 for business. Our drinking nation.n PLEASE can the Minister of Trade explain why Chinese transport companies, registered with the Ministry, from Walvis Bay bring in more than 40 trucks for their operation. Is this fair on Namibian entrepreneurs already competing with big companies?- Omes, Walvis Bayn I WANT to ask the CEO of the Usakos Municipality why they are using my empty plot in Inge Street for a waste dump. Who give them permission? Mr Janser can you please ask the workers to clean my erven. Why can’t you put up signs saying the people will pay a fine if they dump their garden waste on empty erven. How many times must we complain about the service of the Usakos Municipality.Be warnedn YOUR mobile number has won £1,000000 on the on going T-mobile Inte’l draw in UK pin tmuk09. To claim Email:livetmobile@live.co.uk or call +447035906181 How genuine is this? Please help?- This appears to be the SMS version of the bogus ‘Nigerian scam’ e-mails we have all been receiving from all over the world claiming we have won huge amounts of money. Nobody anywhere is going to give anyone presents like this! Once you respond, you will more than likely be requested to pay in an amount to secure your ‘prize’. Then you will never hear from them again. Ignore it. – Newsdesk Generaln NO, the Government should not bring back that culture of knocking off around lunchtime for all Government officials on Friday. Why? It is already like this: in the morning they don’t work, in the afternoon they are gone. So the culture is already there, well cultivated. What do you want now? A double dose of laziness?- Sukoo, Windhoekn THE Zambian authorities are charging too much at the border to motorists, discouraging many from visiting that country. Can Namibia and Zambia sit around the table? n I THINK it’ about time that Natis provided the cars for people who go for their driving tests to obtain a driver’s licence. I don’t understand why we have to pay N$110 which is equivalent to the amount you pay when you rent a car to go for a driving test. This matter needs to be taken into consideration. Not all of us are wealthy enough to afford that huge amount of money although we need a driving licence.Educationn LACK of information. IF you were principal of Kati
ma Combined School, what would you do to convince parents to attend meeting and discuss problems concerning their children? There are internal to rules to be followed. Read more.n I THINK government should change the subjective system of national external examinations. What schools should do is to build up a portfolio (not marks) of each student. This will include: IQ tests, aptitude tests, general assessments in various fields conducted by consultants, projects displaying own work, qualitative reports by teachers, etc. Universities and employers will only evaluate the portfolio when doing their selections.City Fathers Pleasen CITY Police can you not put a small badge on the new taxi numbers? That way it can’t be imitated! Anyone can make those numbers, really!- RVRn MUNICIPALITY of Windhoek when are you going to give us electricity in Karasberg Street, Havana. We are tired of waiting.- Concerned shadowHealth Mattersn Firstly, I would like to applaud the (Listen Loud cellphone campaign for young Namibians) initiative. However, regarding the five themes up for discussion that include ‘Child Protection, Education, HIV and AIDS, Health, and Your Future, Your Vision’, emphasising HIV and AIDS: What about also including other medical conditions, like epilepsy, which is also highly stigmatised and almost completely unknown to the youth of Namibia, in your discussions? Everybody reacts differently when someone has a seizure in a retail store as on the Saturday morning. Some are laughing, some are walking around the person, some are just staring? What are we and the Government doing about this issue that affects different people in different walks of life? I think the emphasis on HIV and AIDS is important but give the other conditions also the support that they need! For more information www.epilepsynamibia.org- Ilse Eiseb, Vice Chairpersonn FROM 2010 we’ll train doctors, but state patients will go to SA for specialist treatment. Are the doctors who train the students not good enough to do it?And Justice for Alln THE Ministry of Justice is fast tracking magistrates’ training but prosecutors are recruited and sent to work stations without any training. Prosecutors are paid far less than magistrates although they have the same qualifications. No wonder prosecutors are resigning en masse. With whom will the magistrates work? – Overworked prosecutor, Katutura Courtn WHY don’t we have a Small Claims court here in Namibia? In traditional law we can get adjudications but for a city slicker who wants redress on payments not received or bills outstanding there isn’t any recourse except a lawyer often at three times the cost of the claim. Or are we taking the positively Victorian powers of backstreet lawyers away if we bring the traditional authority to town…Different strokes for different folksn WHY is there a difference in sentences at the Katutura courts for selling liquor without a licence? In Court A the sentence is usually a fine of about N$2 000 or N$2 500 or 6 months in default of payment and in Court D, it’s usually only a fine of N$300 or 3 months in default for the same. What is the maximum penalty for this offence? And why are the sentences so hugely different? A legal opinion please. Around eight women were sentenced in Court A court on Monday and they had to pay fines ranging from N$2 000, N$2 500 and N$3 000, but on Tuesday people who were sentenced in Court D got only N$300 fines. Taxi Talkn TAXI S12 and most others: a yellow cross on the street means ‘keep clear’! Blocking the entrance to a parking garage like the one in Sanlam building is totally senseless and very frustrating!n TAXI drivers must treat their customers with respect. They shout and swear at you over a small misunderstanding. They must know they need us as much as we need them. It is a give and take thing! People must choose taxis carefully.- HerbsLost and Foundn MS Josina Cecilia van der Berg, ID 870817 0004 7, born in Otjiwarongo your card has been found. Call 081-261-8652. n I, MARIA I Hamunyela, lost my bag with my ID, passport, voter’s registration card and my cellphone on October 22 at Unam. If found, please SMS or call 081-389-0357.n I FOUND Blasius Xoagub driver’s licence. Please SMS me at 081-218-2733n RM TJIKURU has lost all her valuable items as her bag was grabbed in Okahandja. Please residents, if anyone picks up her documents contact her son at 081-280-8341.n I found an ID and a wallet for Kalompo Kristof. Please SMS me at 081-148-0347Labour Issuesn THE Prime Minister, Comrade (Nahas) Angula on Wednesday night said things that went down well with the youth. Cde. PM, these things are not possible, because some companies don’t implement affirmative action and the Swapo affiliated unions turn a blind eye despite being paid by the workers. Cde Prime Minister we have foreign supervisors and receptionists, as if these are specialised fields. We are slowly but surely losing confidence in Swapo because of the unions, specifically MUN. Please pay attention to these practices.n NEW teachers in Ohangwena, Ondobe circuit. We need our transport and housing allowance please. We started in January but still nothing!Service Pleasen IOL Finance department. Too quick to deduct but lazy to refund. I made my claim on September 30. All I get when I call to enquire about my money is that I must call the next day. n THE Minister of Home Affairs must do something at the Northern Industrial Area. I applied for my full birth certificate last September and haven’t received anything until now. They are not friendly and leave people standing for an hour without being helped. They must learn that they are dependent on us, we the people who visit their office. Their files are disorganised, the regions are mixed up. Please send those at the birth certificates section for customer care training.- Disappointed n NAMPOST Okakarara. Please Nampost managers provide us with two counters. Sometimes you have to wait for hours when it’s pension payout day and there are very long queues.n I AM very disappointed about this Spin & Win competition of Moola Mobile. When you win and you send that number to 124 then it says: ‘You have no pending Airtime transfer’. Please Moola Mobile do something. We don’t know where to go because MTC doesn’t know anything about this. n WE want the MTC network at Okatseidhi. If you have a problem, you have to climb a tree to search for the network.- M Freddy, Omusatin RADIO Kosmos, when are you going to let last week’s winners know to collect their prizes? Usually you let them know on the same day.