SMS Of Wednesday 9 September 2009

* THE sidelining of The Namibian by the ECN has just confirmed my suspicions that ECN, despite preaching transparency and fairness, is practising the opposite. It is clear somebody is clearly trying to enforce the ban imposed on The Namibian by the GRN, which they thought would financially paralyse The Namibian. This clearly did not happen and such attempts are only denying readers such as myself, who consider The Namibian as the most fearless and objective newspaper, vital information. We are also Namibians and entitled to information from the ECN not only as voters but as funders of the ECN through our taxes. Clearly we now have every reason to suspect vote rigging in the coming elections. This is what some of us who applied for ECN positions have been suspecting -that despite our academic qualifications and work experience of many years we were not even called for interviews. I challenge ECN to put the names of those employed, especially in senior positions, together with their work experience and qualifications on their office notice boards/walls so that we see that they in fact have superior background. Please show me one literate person who is not reading The Namibian. Senior GRN, senior ruling party and even parliamentarians read it so much so that they can’t resist reading it in Parliament and of course they even send SMSes.

Food For Thought* IT would be far better reading if The Namibian only published short SMSes on the message page and in addition had a readers’ letter page on a daily basis for these very long opinions.Don’t Deny The People* THE Namibian sidelined by ECN: Please ECN, fight your battles with The Namibian newspaper, but do not limit our fundamental freedoms. It won’t be fair if we assume it’s a campaign to have us uninformed.- Ndahafa* I think The Namibian should learn to fight its own battles. So what if you are sidelined by the ECN. Maybe they don’t trust you. They have every right to decide which newspaper to use. Stop using the public to fight your battles. – You are absolutely correct. The ECN does have every right to decide which newspaper to use! That is not the issue. What is at stake is informing as many people as possible about the voting process. – News Editor* WE need the Independent Electoral Commission of Namibia, ECN, and Anti-Corruption Commission, ACC. What we have now are ‘progressive puppets’ for the Swapo Party-led Government. The ECN has no shame to sideline the people’s paper.- A very tired taxpayer * PREVENTING me from having equal access to information is outrageous and infringes on my right to vote. It is also my tax money and I insist on my right to say how it is spent. – Sandie Fitchat* YES, I missed out on the 16-page worth of info on voter registration when I bought my copy of The Namibian today. I also lost confidence in the ECN. But Mr Ndjarakana, when the history of 2009 election is written, your name will go down as such. * OBVIOUSLY, The Namibian newspaper is no longer welcome in this country, if the ‘big fish’ in ECN has no knowledge or is coward enough not to give a reason as to why our favourite newspaper was banned from giving the public crucial information on registration of voter. Shame on the government of The Republic of Namibia! – Concerned citizen Politics* A POLITICIAN is an artist in the art of following the wind of public opinion. He who follows the wind of public opinion does not follow his own judgement. And he who does not follow his own judgement cannot lead people out of the beaten path. He is like the tail of a dog that tries to lead the head. When people stand behind their president and their president stands behind them, they and their president go around in a circle getting nowhere. – Aman* SWAPO has done its part by democratically electing (although there are some fishy stuff/procedures) its would-be MPs for the next five years! I hope all political parties do likewise without any delay! I am aware of those who don’t even dare to launch their programmes, commonly known as ‘political manifestos’. We undecided voters can’t wait to study your programmes. So hurry up matters, and make your candidates known. * COULD the Director General of the NBC please tell the nation why only Swapo meetings are shown over the news and not other parties’ rallies? * WHY did the candidates from the regions fare so badly at the Swapo elections? Was this engineered that way? Why were Swapo National Council members not allowed as delegates although they are members of the Swapo Parliamentary Caucus? * IF the minister of RLGHRD is not prepared to reprimand local councillors at least of Keetmanshoop, then the President should. Are they mechanics, farmers, pastors, hunters, horse riders, teachers or councillors? They don’t bother whether or not they conduct a single information-sharing meeting in a year. End of the month goes by and they collect the pay. Shame on you. The Outapi Council said they have developed several by-laws, regulations and policies, tell us how many and which you developed in the past five years and in the past without our input? Political parties, be so kind and give us people that will bring development to our town and people that will keep your name alive. – From Keetmanshoop* WE want to see the RDP party list of candidates for the National Assembly published in the newspaper. The sooner, the better. – Naapopye!* TIME of reckoning for some MPs, especially the ones from the South. You served your own interests in Parliament the past few years. You cannot reap fruits if you never planted anything. What goes around comes around. I hope you learn a valuable lesson. * MY heart goes out to all the unemployed youth in Namibia who lack the means and opportunity to be generating an income during the time of their peak energy. I therefore cannot understand why the kids from exile demand exclusive entitlement for a better life instead of a national demand of all youth for a better tomorrow. If the struggle kids’ case is legitimate what about our claims on ancestral lands which will provide us with means of production. Stop crying for exclusive treatment and rather join in for a national demand for a better life for all Namibians and demand accountability from politicians. Running The Show* WHO from Namibia was a nuclear expert when President [Hifikepunye] Pohamba signed an agreement with India for the building of a nuclear power plant in Namibia? Is the experience with the Chinese railway locomotives not enough for us, Namibians? n HERE’S s a humble request to the Ministry of Safety and Security Department of Prisons. When you change the uniform please leave the colour of our ‘step-out’ shirt untouched. The colour is good, just improve the quality of materials used. It gives me confidence when I am in it.- Junias, Divundu
Oops* OK The Namibian, what is ‘swine u’? page 3 – There was a ‘font corruption’ on one of our production computers, which swallowed the letters ‘f’ and ‘l’ in ‘flu’ on the printing plate. We were as surprised as you to read about ‘swine u’! – NewsdeskBouquets And Brickbats* CORRY! As I said some time back! This is what and how we want to see it in our paper! Good job! – Whatever it is, Corry says thank you very much! – News Editor* BARRY/NFA you once again failed the football community at the recent friendly match held at Katutura. You left the supporters out in the cold, being vulnerable to thugs and pickpockets, by opening only one gate 20 minutes after the match. Can you tell us what was so difficult to open the gates on time? Some fans chose to jump over the walls as they could not wait anymore, which left a very bad taste over our football as we had foreigners among the fans.- Kgalemang Makgone, Katutura * TRAFFIC officers in Windhoek, thank you for hard work. But please can put robots at Ombili 4 stop.- J Nghifikwa * CONGRATULATIONS to Mr Paulus Kapia. Everyone deserves a second chance in life. You are born a leader.- K * I JUST want to use the time and space our newspaper granted us to thank the RC hospital nurses for their friendliness, care and excellent work!- A very grateful former patient * THANKS to Bridget, Efraim and rest of team at the Pupkewitz Toyota service division. Your assistance with my car is highly appreciated. Keep it up.- Petrina, Windhoek * THANK you NBC for screening the documentaries about the initiation of the liberation struggle. Where can I obtain a copy? * CONGRATULATIONS to Swapo on lists for the 2010 parliamentary candidates. I do hope the election was fair. Now it is just to do a mature campaign for winning.- Jacob Ndjebela * CAN someone, anyone, please help me with the Simba chips advertisement on One Africa TV. It’s so irritating and once you want to feed kids they are scared of eating potatoes. Please. * MISS Diamond music video on One Africa: ‘VITAMIN’ not suitable at all. Remember that our kids are watching these things. Put your fans first.In And From The Regions* I WENT to the Karasburg Magistrate’s Office to have a copy of a document certified as a true copy of the original. They could not meet my request because the stamp is broken and they have been waiting already for six months for a new stamp. One must have a very good sense of humour to call this circus a Government Service. It is rotten from bottom to top and must be mended as a matter of urgency.* OTAVI Municipality, history must be preserved for the next generations no matter what it means or represents. What happened to a footprint on the eastern hill of the town? * THE Police at Oshivelo are not serious. When overloaded buses, like the one from Walvis Bay, arrive at Oshivelo the extra passengers hide under the seats at the back. Police please check.- Shange, Walvis Bay* I’M a Rosh Pinah resident, and I want to know where to register for the upcoming elections.
General* I support the SMS calling on Government to ban the use of left-hand-drive vehicles from our roads. It is unlawful and dangerous. A very progressive entrepreneur wife and mother to two young children was killed last week. A high-ranking official from the NDF lost his life last year. Many other lives were lost; all at the hand of left-hand-drive vehicles. Perhaps Natis should enlighten us why such driving is allowed in Namibia. – Lawful Driver And Justice For All* WHEN sentencing a murderer, a Regional Magistrate described the offence as serious, saying there was no word to define it (The Namibian, 7 Sept. 2009). Guess what sentence was given – 18 years in jail! What description would then fit a person who steals livestock worth N$500 and gets a jail term of 20 years without an option of a fine? – Joe SasaLabour Issues* DEAR editor, I’m a student from Friedrich Awaseb. I want the Government and Ministry of Education to provide the school with cleaners. Each day we have to stay behind after school and sweep the classes. We go to school to study not to sweep. This is child labour at Grootfontein.- Concerned student * WHEN do the NDF and ECN plan to announce the names of those who they recruited? We need answers please. * WHY does the Labour Commissioner’s office allow some employers to delay arbitration cases unnecessarily?- RHUU * THE Namibian Labour Act is a joke! Employers let their employees work for up to 12 hours a day, when 7,5 is the maximum. Many work under harsh inhumane conditions, standing the whole day, especially bar and grocery stores employees. What is the Government doing?* I WONDER what the NEF has to say about Dr Sam Nujoma’s speech on extending maternity leave to six months.* I WANT to know why the Government does not amend the Social Security Act, so that it can benefit the wives of the members during maternity times. This question arises because men are being neglected so much, that only women who are working benefit while the contribution is being made by both parties. What was the rationale behind that clause in the act at a first place? I feel that by virtue of their husbands, they deserved to be treated equally.- Michael, Wanaheda * I DON’T understand … a graduate not getting a job, not even called for interviews nor getting notification letters that the application was unsuccessful. Does this mean the applications are not attractive or what? Totally confused. Please, we need jobs! * PLEASE Mr [Evilastus] Kaaronda intervene with the NHE salary increment, please comrade help those Nafinu shop stewards. We are being forced to take so little by management. Education* CAN the Ministry of Education please make it official whether the schools are closing early or not due to the elections. Because it’s very important that the schools need to know early for planning purposes.- Concerned teacher* MINISTRY of Education. Please help to control pests in school hostels. I heard from my child that there are bugs in their mattresses that bite them while they sleep. He is at Otjikoto SSS. Please take immediate steps with the pest control team. Thank you! Service Please* OSHAKATI African Meat Market manager please do something. A customer stands there for almost an hour without any help. * HUNGRY Lion Independence Avenue, your service is poor. The whole year there have been no serviettes. And no toilets for your customers. Please do something
* GOODNESS me, service at Medi-Clinic medical imaging must improve, they are too slow, how can one wait for the report for an hour?- Taimi * PLEASE! Councillor of Grootfontein, do something about poor Blacksdorps people. We have no electricity and some of us we have no water! * TELECOM, can we the users of this EVDO get service please! Is it possible that one can call for two full days, and the technicians are constantly unavailable, busy or on the phone. I tried on Monday September 7 also, this number 0608022609 was either unanswered or engaged…the whole day!- TK, Windhoek* THE Katutura Municipality personnel are not friendly and helpful. They are supposed to open at 08h00, but we stand outside till after 09h00 due to staff who came late. City of Windhoek, please do something, that happens often.* RUNDU Home Affairs. We wait the whole day in the queue for ID documents. Cleaner and security are the only ones helping people look in the box for ID documents. No permanent employees on duty. Old people come from far waiting the whole day just to come back every day. Poor customer service. Why not employ school leavers on temporary basis. Please improve your services. – Hannes, Rundu