SMSes of Friday 8 January 2010

* READING about Lake Oponona, as a tour guide, I find it a very good proposition if you have a good all-weather road from King Nahale gate and camping possibilities. Maybe Headman Nkawaya can interest Government, NWR, private investors or NGOs. Regards.
– Peter Adrian

Food for Thought* IF you check who owns the vast majority of the uranium exploration licences encompassing the Khan River, you will note that they were given to the Chinese. I have personally seen them prospecting on the Khan many times in large groups.Bouquets and Brickbats* SHOW them the right way: The Namibian January 7: ‘Kabila gets tough on fraud’. Viva Pres. Kabila of DRC for your courage to dismiss high-ranking officials for being corrupt in your government. Hope our President and the rest of Africa’s heads of state will learn and follow his example without fear of favour or losing position. Keep on showing Africa and the rest of the world in particular how to handle corruption.- Democrat* I SEE that the SMS page selectively questions only some people. The latest target is DJ Shaanika whose integrity is being questioned by people who don’t know him or hide under the cover of SMSes. I watched the TV news of Tuesday and what I heard were genuine questions being asked. Pastor Ben, Dr Shaanika quoted from the preamble of the Namibian Constitution that ‘the rights of the people are mostly effectively maintained and protected in a democratic society…’. Does that sound one-sided or intimidating the to judiciary? Dr Shaanika has membership of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, if you don’t know this.- Cde Kumbwana* VIVA Comrade Christof Maletsky. Viva comrade in sport. What you mentioned in The Namibian newspaper, in ‘Afcon failure is a disgrace’ is a true story. Our NFA is not serious at all. I am so disappointed.- Jimmo what a ball* I TOTALLY agree with Christof Maletsky’s opinion article on Namibia’s position in the African Cup of Nations. It is a big shame! Yes, at least the tourism sector could have planned to go and do some kind of promotion.- KM, Windhoek* THE SMS on January 6 about crocodiles is heartless. Human life is more important than that of crocs. The girls were washing in the river and not there for fun. Think before you write.* THE guy who called Conrad Angula to order on his ‘biased’ reporting on Gazza, you were on the right path until you said ‘we all know who the real king of kwaito is. Well, who is ‘we’? Please speak for yourself as there was never a referendum or vote on this ‘not-so-mature’ subject. Gazza and The Dogg are both talented Namibian artists and we all should support them and help them put Namibia’s name on the map. They should also start behaving responsibly!- K, Windhoek* AFRICAN potato (former SA President) Thabo Mbeki versus African culture (President) Jacob Zuma, the verdict is out: The ABC of HIV-AIDS failed. What a sad indictment for the fight against this pandemic in southern Africa. Having multiple sexual partners is culture in Africa. The HIV-AIDS campaign ‘To whom are you connected’ has been dealt a multiple blow.* DON’T the police in Malawi have more serious matters than patrolling the bedrooms of consenting adult males while there are murderers, rapist, robbers etc out there? They concern themselves with private affairs. I am greatly saddened by the arrest of two homosexual men in Malawi. All civilised societies should condemn this human rights violation and call for the release of these innocent men. There is nothing wrong with sharing your life with the person you love.* CHRIS Smith set the record straight. There were about 45 000 delegates to Copenhagen. That gives an average of about 234 delegates per country. Namibia being the only SADC country to be badly affected by climate change particularly by year 2050, had only 37 delegates. Statistics talks better than opinions.Politics* DEAR Hon (Pendukeni) Ithana, please understand that not all of us in Swapo can be politicians. Yes we come to the headquarters to pay our dues, so that you, the politician, can do your political work. Don’t be suspicious or biased against us for simply giving you room to do your job. We are the ones who voted for you.* WHERE are the following politicians Hidipo Hamutenya, Jesaya Nyamu and other presidents of opposition parties after the last election?* IT is undemocratic and an insult to human dignity to call someone’s vote a ‘non- thinking vote’. We all have personal reasons for electing the leaders and parties we voted for.- KatangaIn and From the Regions* THERE is a serious problem in Opuwo. There are no tarred roads inside Opuwo itself and the town is very dirty and untidy. Goats, donkeys, horses, dogs, cattle and pigs and other animals are all over the place I think the Town Council should do something about Opuwo.- T Humu* OSHIKANGO town is very dirty. There is rubbish all over Helao Nafidi. Please do something.Running the Show* MINISTER of Lands we need land/farms! In 2009 nothing was advertised, what are you doing?Labour Issues* IT is very common in the Namibian Government service for employees to just fill in a leave application and not have it signed before they push off. This especially happens when they have been told that they may not have leave at a particular time. There is no control at all.* WHEN will the name of the Namibian Defence Force recruits come out? Ministry of Defence tell us. What was the purpose of advertising the post? We have waited for six to seven months now.- Walvis BayNBC* I’VE aways just heard people talking about our own sprinter Frank Fredericks being one of the fastest runners ever. The sad thing is, I never saw him on the tracks, in action. I don’t blame anyone for that, but would love to make a special request to NBC to show us those clips of Frankie doing what he did best … running. I greatly admire him!- Ronald* I’M requesting the NBC to repeat the Lazarus Jacobs interview aired on TV on the ‘One on One’ programme. Let the nation watch and listen to what this brave Namibian is saying. I urge the leaders of our country to watch also. We need more open-minded people like him.Service Please* MTC please do something about the poor mobile Internet connection that has been going on for the past few weeks. It hardly ever loads and when it does, it disconnects again. Secondly, your customer service is not acceptable. The people at the call centre hardly ever pick up if at all.We deserve better service than this.* BANK Windhoek please do something for your customers in Rosh Pinah. Not all of them have access to computers or Internet banking.General* CAN the Editor of The Namibian please tell me (us). How you choose your SMSes Of The Day? Based on what? Who decides?- Hilaria Jorse- All SMSes cannot be published as we get hundreds per day. The Editor does not choose the messages published. The editor of this particular page Carmen Honey, does the selection roughly based on the following: If there is a topic which engenders mass public reaction then this is reflected on the page by choice of messages with some variety of views in order not to be repetitive. All other messages are chosen on basis of content and defamatory messages which are not backed up by fact cannot be published. Readers need to bear in mind that most messages, except those where people choose to go public with their names, are anonymous, and as with all other facets of the newspaper, The Namibian is responsible for content and can be sued in the event of libellous, inciteful or defamatory material. It is for this reason we request writers to be responsible when they exercise their views. Criticism is fine, for example, ie the Minister of X is not doing a good job because service delivery is poor etc etc. But we cannot say, again for example, that Minister X is corrupt and a drunk. Only if we are able to back up views with facts could such statements be published. The editor of these pages also endeavours to have variety of views on a number of topics, also to represent the regions and rural areas and give the right of reply when institutions or individuals are named. The Ministry of Education, for example, is one of the few institutions which takes the trouble to respond to education-related queries, and we make a point to give them the space to reply. When readers write messages they should have regard for all of the above mentioned and to keep their views in good taste and in the public interest. We hope this helps answer your query. – Ed.Ndeshi & Jakes* WOULD you kindly bring Ndeshi & Jakes back. Mama Taxi is just not a true reflection of our society. Thanks.- Levi.* PLEASE The Namibian team bring back Ndeshi and Jakes because it’s very enjoyable. This Mama Taxi is boring.* WE want to send our SMSes to The Namibian newspaper using ‘Switch’. Whose responsibility is it to open up the stream, Telecom or The Namibian? Please help.- This is being investigated at the moment. We will advise as soon as we have the details.- NewsdeskEducation* THE same education for all Namibian children! We also want our children to learn Afrikaans as a language.- Concerned parent, Omusati Region