SMSes for Mon 5 Jan 09

* PAY Jackpot. How is it possible that political office bearers are given such generous salary increases? What about our underpaid and overworked teachers, nurses and police members? – Tobias.

Food for thought

* PUBLIC office bearers have just been given 24% salary increment. War veterans got an abnormal 400% increment. Can the President give all other civil servants at least 15 to 20% salary increment in 2009? They will also be affected by inflation like ministers and war vets.

* A practical and beneficial 2009 resolution by every Namibian should be to buy products with a Team Namibia logo. Teach young children to buy such products to guarantee their own job security in the future. We have ourselves to blame for our own unemployment. We willingly give away our money to create and sustain jobs in other countries while we remain jobless. Buy Namibian products in 2009.

* JUST wondering about where the officials of Oshikoto Regional Council sleep without housing at Omuthiya. Are they fulltime on S&T or what is really happening?

Politicians’ salaries

* IS President Hifikepunye Pohamba serious to lead the nation with dedication or not? Please don’t blame the West when civil servants down tools. Are you aware that new salary structures for civil servants, police, soldiers, teachers, magistrates are not yet implemented while you happily grant political office bearer 24%?

* IN his motivation for the hefty increases for the politicians, Albert Kawana chose not to mention that most of the beneficiaries don’t even understand what their work is.

* POLITICIANS will get 24% salary increase while cleaners are still receiving a housing allowance of N$100 per month. The poor must remain poor.

* WHY are political office bearers getting now 12 per cent and next year 12 per cent while increases for civil servants were spread over three years? How many times are we humbly requesting Government to at least release part of our pensions? Only nurses are tasting theirs and get their jobs back. Our president, it’s not fair to your civil servants who sweat poverty for the smooth running in Parliament.

* SWAPO Government do you really care about the Namibian nation? Why are you only increasing your salaries but not ours? Who is going to vote for your Government?

* THIS is how slight of Zimbabwe started, forgetting people who voted them into power and this is exactly what is happening to us. We are just voting for our own hell. I mean 24% increment for Ministers and MPs.

* NANTU I am your paid-up member and I am only giving you up to February next year to negotiate and achieve a satisfactory salary increment for teachers and other civil servants or else I will withdraw my membership. We also want a 24% or more increment like political office bearers – equal treatment please, we all have families to support. The general public is also undergoing difficult economic times because of inflation and price hikes worse than politicians, who are already getting exorbitant salaries and do not pay tax for that matter.

* IT seems we don’t have to trust our leaders in any vote, because everyone is just remembering the rich ones. The ministers’ salaries are increased while the President knows his soldiers are surviving on cash loans.

* COMRADE President what kind of corruption are you fighting? You gave increases to those who have. What about who cannot afford a roof over their heads? Comrade, remember next year is election year.

* TWENTY four per cent increase for politicians and ministers is fraud.

* Politicians hit the jackpot with 24 per cent salary increment when there is no public criticism via phone-in programmes. The public will hit the cross in 2009 elections.

* PRESIDENT Pohamba must increase the salaries of civil servants because 90% of them survive on cash loans. We cannot even afford to buy a house because you don’t find a house of N$90 000. It is a shame to say I am working for the GRN with benefits that you cannot use to make a change in your live.

* TOP GRN officials are just always trying to satisfy their thirst with the sweat of the poor civil servants. Do they have the interest of the underpaid civil servant at heart or just fat salaries for themselves. 24 per cent for them, why not 15 per cent?

* They gave themselves 24 per cent and gave us five per cent. I will never attend your campaign meetings anymore.

* SOLDIERS will never get anything as long as we are prohibited to strike. Ministers got increases on top of their big salaries. Soldiers open your eyes.

* PRESIDENT Pohamba are you the President of Namibia or for only rich people? Don’t forget that we fought together. Please think twice.

From the regions

* MTC, please this is a humble request for the new year. The community of Mangetti Dune is still without network coverage. Please do something, we are now tired of empty promises each year!
– Concerned resident

* Please councillor Kavetu can you help those homeless Himba people in Opuwo, especially the elderly and pregnant women. Build them an old age home to live in.

* Uutsathima area is still in an urgent need of clean water, gravel road and communication network for school, veterinary office, a Police Station and a clinic. Government please do something.

* IS the Town Council of Helao Nafidi aware that the Oshikango suburb has only one street? All possible alternative sites to build streets are Chinese warehouses.

* Allow me to express my concern about the condition of the gravel road between Ondobe and Oshikango through Edundja and Odibo. This road is no longer at an acceptable standard – it is worn out and it seems no one is taking responsibility for its maintenance. So please, whoever is responsible for the maintenance of this road do something. Can you imagine this is the same road the President uses when he visits his homestead by road.

* ONDANGWA Town Council do something about rubbish collection. Okangwena Street is particularly dirty due to rubbish pilling up.

Politics

* PLEASE Namibians stop insulting each other because of political differences, that is the thing which caused the collapse of Zimbabwe. We must unite us a team – let peace rule our beloved land of the brave.
– Ohakafiya

* A general quiz for 2009 should be which political organisation in Namibia prefers insults, name calling, hate speeches, regionalism, tribalism, corruption and wastage?

* FREE-THINKING Namibians, let 2009 be a year of reality check and resistance of false, artificial heroes. True heroes and heroines are still in dire poverty.

* SWAPO Government, enough is enough. We need a political party, which can bring positive changes for all Namibians and not for one region only as you are doing now. Swapo Government is totally neglecting the Ohangwena Region. Just compare the roads in Ohangwena – there is only one incomplete road up now, while in Omusati region there are more then seven roads.

* NBC must stop torturing its viewers. Exclusive interview with the gentlemen from the African Pioneers Movement does not make sense! Robert Mugabe must hand over power. No patriotic African can support Mugabe and not the suffering peasantry selling MTC recharge vouchers on our streets. No person can leave the comfort of home to sit in the street the whole day selling recharge vouchers. Zimbabwe needs urgent repair.

* MILLIONS of dollars were approved for drought relief, but we only received a 10 kg maize meal per household long back in October in Eenhana constituency. We were told we will receive it for seven months. Will we be given a back pay relief for the past months or what is going on? And why can’t we be given at least a 20 kg bag per household?

Service please

* STANDARD bank branches in the north please add more tellers instead of customers spending at least one hour in the bank.

General

* I THOUGHT a person could not be employed as a casual for longer than six months according to the Labour Act. People registering Orphans and vulnerable children in the Ministry of Gender have been employed temporarily
since August 2006 until April 2008 and again October 2008 to May 2009. Why can’t they be employed permanently and get paid as per the salary scale that was advertised rather than the N$1500 they now receive? The Government is fighting labour hire, and yet it is guilty of the same practice. What are we supposed to believe?

* IS adverse competitive advertising, directly comparing your product to that of a competitor in negative way legal in Namibia? I know it is not allowed in South Africa. Cell One has been airing such an advert on radio for some weeks now.

* I’M a resident of Otjiwarongo. Whenever we travel from Otjiwarongo to Windhoek the taxi between Otjiwarongo and Windhoek let us pay N$110, while from Oshakati to Windhoek the fee is N$120. Even the price of petrol is now down. Please Nabta do something.

* CITY of Windhoek please help the roaming dogs in Freedom Square. They are too many and the owners don’t take care of them or keep them in their yards.

* NBC’s programming is pathetic. How can they expect us to watch a French show. Do we now all have to go and learn French so that we can understand what’s being played on our national broadcaster? Last time I checked English is still the official language. How many Namibians speak French? You don’t have to broadcast everything people donate to you.

Education

* CAN the Minister of Education please report in the media how many Grade 10’s, who repeated in 2008 obtained 23 and more points and whether the ones who did not make it again would be allowed to repeat this year, as well and or promoted automatically to Grade 11. The statistics could assist with performance evaluation and management. Secondly, I would like to hear from the ETSIP management team what their opinion is about the results. Thirdly, the number of failures is worrisome. The vision of achieving a knowledgeable society is rather fading with every passing year. There is a need for mass action from the civil society – the Minister and his Permanent Secretary must leave now! They failed to deliver!

* AGAIN more than half of the Grade 10s failed to enter Senior Secondary phase. Is there any leadership in the education sector? No! It is high time that the Permanent Secretary of Education, the Inspectors and Directors are replaced with more capable people or do the honourable thing and resign. They have failed over the past 18 years.

* DEAR Permanent Secretary of Education attend to primary schools. The huge grade 10 failure rate is caused by learners who enter junior secondary phase without the ability to read, write or count and hampers learners to cope with the demands of the latter phase. PS, please do something for these poor learners.

* MY concern is about the Grade 10 results through the Internet and those of the SMS line. Are the SMS line results not accurate or is it the Internet? I’m worried because when I send an SMS for the results they said I failed, but the Internet results said I passed.

* EDUCATION Director for the Kunene Region please alleviate the pressure on Outjo Senior Secondary School in terms of Grade 10 intakes. It is the only school in the whole of Kunene with over 100 Grade 10 learners year in and out. Yet its performance is consistently good. Other junior and senior schools with less learners are still performing poor compared to Outjo SS. Why are higher level subjects only offered at Outjo SS in the entire Kunene? What is the purpose of other so-called high schools? How long should this be allowed to continue? I honestly expect answers from Education Officers in Kunene.