* WHY, why, why do peace, true democracy and inclusivity have to come at such a high price for the people of Zimbabwe? Let us here in Namibia strive towards a peaceful co-existence politically. Let us, and especially our leaders, avoid name-calling, shallow and opportunistic politicking and conduct ourselves in a mature way. Let us not be misled by self-centred leaders who do not have the interest of our country at heart, and as a nation. We must distance ourselves from those leaders who sow seeds of disunity amongst us through irresponsible utterances. Let us see the beauty in our diversity. Our reward will be a prosperous Namibia.
Food For Thought * IF fishing companies are going to be forced to employ Namibians, is the Government going to start using Namibians to do their building work?* WHEN are we Africans going to get off our backsides and start working instead of always wanting and blaming the past. – JZTransNamib* THE TransNamib strike was confusing to me. Most of the working-class people I know are apathetic to Government and management. In my opinion I think the striking workers were used as some sort of pawns to further other people’s agendas. If truly the TransNamib workers initiated the strike over principles then I think this was a positive step for your future as non-elite Namibians despite the harm done. Let’s see if standing together demanding change does work in Namibia. Sadly I doubt you remember how!* OUR leaders must learn to act. They wait until the situation gets out of hand. I’m referring to the TransNamib strike. How can they now be angry while they were not serious with workers’ demands? I am sick of this type of reaction from leaders.* I THINK the NUNW has gone too far with the TransNamib strike, whatever their agenda may have been. Comrade (Evilastus) Kaaronda will not tell me that he doesn’t yet know the difference between a dispute of rights (adjudication/arbitration) and a dispute of interest (industrial action)! As a patriotic Namibian I’m really deeply disappointed Comrades.* THE Rally for Democracy and Progress appears to be in charge of public institutions through remote control. Should this not be the case then it is sheer demagogy for Evilastus Kaaronda to wantonly implicate the RDP in the TransNamib saga. A bad carpenter always blames his tools, isn’t it? Thus under Kaaronda’s clumsy union leadership the NUNW has seen flagrant betrayal and abandonment of the ideology of the working class. Truly speaking, the current attitude of the unions does express acute ignorance of the laws of the history of the working class. Think of the principle of ‘no work – no pay’. Where on earth have you heard of workers determined to sacrifice part or whole of their hard-earned wages only to fight and protect the interests of a manager? It’s a pity our unions of today simply play into the hands of external forces who propagate a reactionary ideology in order to guarantee their illegal and usurped privileges. – Wokomongwa, OmutwewomunhuFrom The Regions* HOW long must we wait for our flood money at Mariental? We want a meeting with the task force team in Windhoek. Come and explain to us. It’s too long, you people forget us. Thanks in advance. – Flood victim* OMUNDAUNGILO people, please wake up and do what others do. Rename schools with the names of our good leaders who are no longer with us. We had good people like: the late pastor Andreas Kanalelo, Uncle Paulus Nakale, our first state teacher Johannes Shipunda, Meester Mikka Jacob and others just to mention a few. Please look at it – PashukeniPolitics* LET the right to appoint the ACC Director General and the Ombudsman be given to the official opposition from the 2009 elections onwards.* MINISTER Jerry Ekandjo, it does not matter how many tails you cut, change is inevitable. Just ask (President Robert) Mugabe of Zimbabwe. I wish the people of Zim well and hope that they will never be subjected to such barbaric treatment again.Service Please* PLEASE Windhoek Municipality, can you fix the pothole in the road at KFC in Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue? The last time it cost me N$500 to repair a rim damaged by a trench dug across the same road by the builders. If there is a car in the next lane you cannot swerve to avoid the pothole.* IF you live in Narraville and you are a driver, you would agree. Engen Service Station never has 95 unleaded and the attendants are not good. Mr Coetzee, please do something.* WHY does the City of Windhoek not keep their refuse removal truck in good working condition? The truck they use on Thursdays in Khomasdal spills a lot of oil on the road. I’m still waiting for a response from the refuse removal supervisor after laying a complaint.General* CITY Police have mercy on taxi drivers! You guys are giving them many tickets. Just imagine two to four a day!* PLEASE look into this issue of unsuccessful applications when it comes to vacancies. Companies and Government return copies for the unsuccessful so that we can apply for other posts. We don’t have money to make copies again. – Concerned Naapopye* RATHER than complete disconnection of electricity, NamPower can perhaps ration the connection from 06h00 to 09h00 and then 18h00 to 21h00. This will help essential services to operate and for a town to have at least water and access to health etc. – RB Hinanifa* CAN the Election Commission of Namibia (ECN) add two more days for the Tobias Hainyeko Constituency’s registration for the by-election on October 31? Many voters have not registered due to a lack of or confusing information. The ECN’s education department has managed to distribute the information about registration on September 10. A failed job indeed. ECN must do its work perfectly well!* SCHOOLGIRLS, if you fall pregnant do not expect your parents to shake your hand and pat your back as if you have just graduated from a college. Though the blame goes to the man who impregnated you, you also have your share of the blame. Except if you were raped. The scolding you get from your parents/guardians, you duly deserve it because that was not their expectation when they sent you to school. Do not use the scolding and blaming from parents as a reason to dump babies. Reap what you sow.* STOP smoking in public please! Can our leaders please do something.* THE bill passed by the municipality where owners have to pay for the water and electricity bills of the tenants is unfair and cruel. Why can’t they trace those people as they’ve done before? I am unable to rent out my places because of those accounts. How will we survive in this country?* LIQUOR Licence Board. Otjomuise is not a haven for drunkards. Seven formal licences approved all in a radius of 300 m?* MR (Nahas) Angula (Prime Minister). Hear my voice. Previously you stated “Namibia is not a milking cow! Take time to observe how the Chinese are milking the Land of the Brave!* TO the person who was fined N$300 for driving without a safety belt. Of course you must pay! You know the difference between right and wrong! If everyone thinks like you there won’t be law and order!* I’M an atheist. Is anyone out there aware of the existence of an atheists’ association or something similar? Please let me know.* I DON’T know what has become of the corridor at the corner of Frans Indongo and Kasch streets. I can hardly walk to get a cab without being harassed by the cellphone-grabbing mob whose office is right in front of Pub Ketu. Please protect the nation from what is known as normal activity in that area. – Veron, Hochland Park* TO the people who wrote on the wall of the toilet at Maerua Mall, shame on you, you are an embarrassment to the whole of Namibia. – Eneas ‘Zuka’ Hainana* WHAT has Windhoek become these days? It isn’t safe in the city anymore. Students are mugged. They are afraid to go out. Aren’t we supposed to look after our young leaders? They need safety, the Government needs to look out for this.Sporting* COSTA Kheiseb belongs to the dustbin of history. That attitude should never be condoned, who the hell does he think he is? – Oshivanda* I AM one of many u-17s who took part in the Cosassa Ball Games and I am not happy with the Ministry of Sports. We paid for our tracksuits in advance for over month now but have not yet got any word from the ministry on when we are getting them.* GRN please consider appointing Frank Fredericks and Agnes Samaria as Minister and Deputy Minister for Sports. Hear our plight, leave politics out of sports.* RESCUE 911 come in. Can somebody rescue our Mighty Black Africa FC. The team has financial problems and the players are going out to rich teams. Can our heroes step in, the likes of Frank Fredericks, Steven Hochobeb, Bob Kandedu, ext. The ship is sinking. Please help before it is too late, we don’t want to follow Blue Waters FC. We are the backbone of Namibian soccer.* THIS Government is only for Swapo politicians. We soccer players are sick and tired of suffering. Why is Government not pumping money to our sport to eliminate poverty among our youth who are the most involved? Most countries have professional players in different sports codes and people are living well. But in Namibia you must be a Swapo politician to become richer. We are tired of this and we, as youth today, cannot leave any stone unturned.Labour Issues* UNIONS are always quick to defend workers’ rights while the are not doing the same for their employees, no medical or any other allowances only basic pay and social security.* WE at Oshikoto Region Ministry of Health have a problem with our overtime payouts. We don’t get paid on time. We haven’t received our overtime since July. Other regions pay their staff on time. The Minister of Health must do something urgently.Disconnections* NBC TV and the national radio service in Otjinene have been no more since September 10. Do people have to pay licences for a disservice? – Moripe* ALLOW me a space in our popular newspaper. I wonder why NBC TV is still more concerned about TV licence renewals. Please give us a break. We don’t enjoy the money we spend on a licence. All we get is news. Everything is just a waste. What are we paying for? What is the story of this kasi music played the whole week and even twice in a day? Does the music teach kids how to deal with life? Please NBC make a change. – Huster, Swakopmund* THANKS for a great Namibian movie NBC! Keep it up.Education* GROOTFONTEIN Secondary School only invites universities from SA to the school to come and promote themselves. Unam, WCE or any educational institution in Namibia is not invited.* IF fishing companies are going to be forced to employ Namibians, is the Government going to start using Namibians to do their building work? * WHEN are we Africans going to get off our backsides and start working instead of always wanting and blaming the past. – JZ TransNamib * THE TransNamib strike was confusing to me. Most of the working-class people I know are apathetic to Government and management. In my opinion I think the striking workers were used as some sort of pawns to further other people’s agendas. If truly the TransNamib workers initiated the strike over principles then I think this was a positive step for your future as non-elite Namibians despite the harm done. Let’s see if standing together demanding change does work in Namibia. Sadly I doubt you remember how! * OUR leaders must learn to act. They wait until the situation gets out of hand. I’m referring to the TransNamib strike. How can they now be angry while they were not serious with workers’ demands? I am sick of this type of reaction from leaders.* I THINK the NUNW has gone too far with the TransNamib strike, whatever their agenda may have been. Comrade (Evilastus) Kaaronda will not tell me that he doesn’t yet know the difference between a dispute of rights (adjudication/arbitration) and a dispute of interest (industrial action)! As a patriotic Namibian I’m really deeply disappointed Comrades.* THE Rally for Democracy and Progress appears to be in charge of public institutions through remote control. Should this not be the case then it is sheer demagogy for Evilastus Kaaronda to wantonly implicate the RDP in the TransNamib saga. A bad carpenter always blames his tools, isn’t it? Thus under Kaaronda’s clumsy union leadership the NUNW has seen flagrant betrayal and abandonment of the ideology of the working class. Truly speaking, the current attitude of the unions does express acute ignorance of the laws of the history of the working class. Think of the principle of ‘no work – no pay’. Where on earth have you heard of workers determined to sacrifice part or whole of their hard-earned wages only to fight and protect the interests of a manager? It’s a pity our unions of today simply play into the hands of external forces who propagate a reactionary ideology in order to guarantee their illegal and usurped privileges. – Wokomongwa, Omutwewomunhu From The Regions * HOW long must we wait for our flood money at Mariental? We want a meeting with the task force team in Windhoek. Come and explain to us. It’s too long, you people forget us. Thanks in advance. – Flood victim * OMUNDAUNGILO people, please wake up and do what others do. Rename schools with the names of our good leaders who are no longer with us. We had good people like: the late pastor Andreas Kanalelo, Uncle Paulus Nakale, our first state teacher Johannes Shipunda, Meester Mikka Jacob and others just to mention a few. Please look at it – Pashukeni Politics * LET the right to appoint the ACC Director General and the Ombudsman be given to the official opposition from the 2009 elections onwards.* MINISTER Jerry Ekandjo, it does not matter how many tails you cut, change is inevitable. Just ask (President Robert) Mugabe of Zimbabwe. I wish the people of Zim well and hope that they will never be subjected to such barbaric treatment again.Service Please * PLEASE Windhoek Municipality, can you fix the pothole in the road at KFC in Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue? The last time it cost me N$500 to repair a rim damaged by a trench dug across the same road by the builders. If there is a car in the next lane you cannot swerve to avoid the pothole.* IF you live in Narraville and you are a driver, you would agree. Engen Service Station never has 95 unleaded and the attendants are not good. Mr Coetzee, please do something.* WHY does the City of Windhoek not keep their refuse removal truck in good working condition? The truck they use on Thursdays in Khomasdal spills a lot of oil on the road. I’m still waiting for a response from the refuse removal supervisor after laying a complaint.General * CITY Police have mercy on taxi drivers! You guys are giving them many tickets. Just imagine two to four a day! * PLEASE look into this issue of unsuccessful applications when it comes to vacancies. Companies and Government return copies for the unsuccessful so that we can apply for other posts. We don’t have money to make copies again. – Concerned Naapopye * RATHER than complete disconnection of electricity, NamPower can perhaps ration the connection from 06h00 to 09h00 and then 18h00 to 21h00. This will help essential services to operate and for a town to have at least water and access to health etc. – RB Hinanifa * CAN the Election Commission of Namibia (ECN) add two more days for the Tobias Hainyeko Constituency’s registration for the by-election on October 31? Many voters have not registered due to a lack of or confusing information. The ECN’s education department has managed to distribute the information about registration on September 10. A failed job indeed. ECN must do its work perfectly well! * SCHOOLGIRLS, if you fall pregnant do not expect your parents to shake your hand and pat your back as if you have just graduated from a college. Though the blame goes to the man who impregnated you, you also have your share of the blame. Except if you were raped. The scolding you get from your parents/guardians, you duly deserve it because that was not their expectation when they sent you to school. Do not use the scolding and blaming from parents as a reason to dump babies. Reap what you sow.* STOP smoking in public please! Can our leaders please do something.* THE bill passed by the municipality where owners have to pay for the water and electricity bills of the tenants is unfair and cruel. Why can’t they trace those people as they’ve done before? I am unable to rent out my places because of those accounts. How will we survive in this country? * LIQUOR Licence Board. Otjomuise is not a haven for drunkards. Seven formal licences approved all in a radius of 300 m? * MR (Nahas) Angula (Prime Minister). Hear my voice. Previously you stated “Namibia is not a milking cow! Take time to observe how the Chinese are milking the Land of the Brave! * TO the person who was fined N$300 for driving without a safety belt. Of course you must pay! You know the difference between right and wrong! If everyone thinks like you there won’t be law and order! * I’M an atheist. Is anyone out there aware of the existence of an atheists’ association or something similar? Please let me know.* I DON’T know what has become of the corridor at the corner of Frans Indongo and Kasch streets. I can hardly walk to get a cab without being harassed by the cellphone-grabbing mob whose office is right in front of Pub Ketu. Please protect the nation from what is known as normal activity in that area. – Veron, Hochland Park * TO the people who wrote on the wall of the toilet at Maerua Mall, shame on you, you are an embarrassment to the whole of Namibia. – Eneas ‘Zuka’ Hainana * WHAT has Windhoek become these days? It isn’t safe in the city anymore. Students are mugged. They are afraid to go out. Aren’t we supposed to look after our young leaders? They need safety, the Government needs to look out for this.Sporting * COSTA Kheiseb belongs to the dustbin of history. That attitude should never be condoned, who the hell does he think he is? – Oshivanda * I AM one of many u-17s who took part in the Cosassa Ball Games and I am not happy with the Ministry of Sports. We paid for our tracksuits in advance for over month now but have not yet got any word from the ministry on when we are getting them.* GRN please consider appointing Frank Fredericks and Agnes Samaria as Minister and Deputy Minister for Sports. Hear our plight, leave politics out of sports.* RESCUE 911 come in. Can somebody rescue our Mighty Black Africa FC. The team has financial problems and the players are going out to rich teams. Can our heroes step in, the likes of Frank Fredericks, Steven Hochobeb, Bob Kandedu, ext. The ship is sinking. Please help before it is too late, we don’t want to follow Blue Waters FC. We are the backbone of Namibian soccer.* THIS Government is only for Swapo politicians. We soccer players are sick and tired of suffering. Why is Government not pumping money to our sport to eliminate poverty among our youth who are the most involved? Most countries have professional players in different sports codes and people are living well. But in Namibia you must be a Swapo politician to become richer. We are tired of this and we, as youth today, cannot leave any stone unturned.Labour Issues * UNIONS are always quick to defend workers’ rights while the are not doing the same for their employees, no medical or any other allowances only basic pay and social security.* WE at Oshikoto Region Ministry of Health have a problem with our overtime payouts. We don’t get paid on time. We haven’t received our overtime since July. Other regions pay their staff on time. The Minister of Health must do something urgently.Disconnections * NBC TV and the national radio service in Otjinene have been no more since September 10. Do people have to pay licences for a disservice? – Moripe * ALLOW me a space in our popular newspaper. I wonder why NBC TV is still more concerned about TV licence renewals. Please give us a break. We don’t enjoy the money we spend on a licence. All we get is news. Everything is just a waste. What are we paying for? What is the story of this kasi music played the whole week and even twice in a day? Does the music teach kids how to deal with life? Please NBC make a change. – Huster, Swakopmund * THANKS for a great Namibian movie NBC! Keep it up.Education * GROOTFONTEIN Secondary School only invites universities from SA to the school to come and promote themselves. Unam, WCE or any educational institution in Namibia is not invited.
