SMSes of the Day : Thursday

* IT is clear that the European Union wants to have access to our markets to dump cheap products. We are aware that the EU has undertaken a massive project to unify Europe, which brings into the fold rich countries but also some very poor ones. It is an open secret that the EU wants Africa to subsidise this project. Come to think of it: why the pressure, the deadlines, the concerns? Can Europe be concerned for Africans? It is a joke. Please EU do us a favour – leave Africa alone. And you Africans and Namibians reading, you are naïve to think we need Europe to survive. Wake up and smell the Kenyan coffee. Stop these destructive and disgusting EPAs. Keep your composure Namibia!

* THE traffic officers in the northern regions have failed the nation. They have been overwhelmed by taxi operators and their drivers. Is it because Police officers are the owners of these taxis or what? Passengers have no choice but to subject themselves to be packed like sardines if they have to reach their destination. If a sedan taxi for example has four passengers waiting at the taxi rank, the driver won’t leave until he gets two more passengers. Do traffic laws only apply to other regions but not in the northern regions? We are fed up. We now demand an overhaul of the public transport sector. High-ranking officials in the traffic department in the North, you are not doing your job and you have been for far too long, maybe it is time you get fired. Food for thought* SAM Nujoma better explain to the 20 families in the Karas Region what happened to the grape farm at which he officiated as the then President? The Swapo leadership should now find ways to give back the promised land. It should be easy, the Nujoma family should bravely admit to having grabbed the land from its rightful owners. That would place Swapo in a position from which they can call fellow Namibians selfish, enemies and incompetent.* THE fact that most Government institutions and parastatals are always being linked to corrupt practices indicate clearly that the Government is CORRUPT!Ondobe Clinic responds* THE Ondobe clinic does not have an HR Department, thus all employees are recruited by the Ministry of Health through normal procedures. Concerning availability of medicines, you cannot put the blame on the nurses at the clinic, because as soon as the medicines are finished the nurses order them from the suppliers, as a result there is no a medicine supplying factory at the clinic. Mind you, the nurses are not the ones consuming the medicine but it’s a result of many patients treated at the clinic. In fact this applies to all clinics. The clinic is maintained by the cleaners in the way that they are supposed. The clinic building is old and it’s not the nurses’ responsibility to renovate the clinic, but the Government’s. Would you mind referring your SMS to the Ministry to renovate the clinic for it to look much cleaner. Finally, we should always learn to appreciate and be content rather judging everything on the face value, because of envy. Knowledge and skills are valuable tools we should learn to possess. Ondobe Clinic remains and will always be a State-owned property. Thank you.Thank you* VOTE of thanks to the City of Windhoek for listening to our request. The Kigali, Pretoria and Gaborone streets in Wanaheda were cleaned on Saturday. Hopefully it will be done regularly until we get tarred roads and not only when requested.Politics in general* IT is very honourable that President Pohamba avoided all the negative language we have been hearing from other Swapo leaders of late. His olive branch may have come out a bit too late though. It is such a great pity that two great men, Pohamba and Hidipo, are now on opposing sides.* GIVE me a break! How dare you say that Netumbo (Ndaitwah) withdrew from the race because of being labelled an RDP? Conscience was powerful. On the issue of Swapo being anti-Kwanyama, ignorance is at play here. The SWAPO president is in fact a Kwanyama. – Magano* CAN anybody please tell me how can two people make the Government lose its vision. HH and Nyamu are now blamed for all the wrongdoings in Swapo. How about the deteriorating health services and education just to mention two? What was the Head of State and the Cabinet doing and is it possible to be (allegedly) corrupted by two people?* THE blame for the failure of development projects under the former Minister of Foreign Affairs should not be squarely put on the shoulders of one person, but the Cabinet must take collective responsibility. It is narrow thinking and cheap politicking to repeatedly use failed projects as a means of winning the minds of illiterate rural masses. Let us accept political pluralism as the only way to achieve the goals of Vision 2030. Most of the RDP leaders are former Swapo members and now that they have formed their own party they are labelled as bad elements.* SWAPO has failed to show diplomacy in the way it reacted to the formation of RDP. Its leaders have created a false state of emergency. What is the fear of Swapo? If they know that they have governed right why should they panic and using derogatory labels against RDP? You don’t have to use propaganda, be logical and objective.* LISTEN dear SMS sender, we in our mighty Swapo will never and never have sleepless nights over the RDP. Please get that loud and clear.* I AGREE with the SMS in yesterday’s edition. (Margareth) Mensah-Williams has lost touch with reality. Even the majority of people don’t have access to primary healthcare. There are so many valuable things she can talk about. Sorry animal lovers. – Well, one can look at this from various angles! Because Ms Mensah-Williams is talking about a health plan for pets doesn’t mean that she does not care about primary healthcare. One does not exclude the other. If you follow National Council proceedings, you will be aware that the Councillor has been vocal on numerous pressing issues affecting people’s welfare. There are many pet lovers and pet owners in Namibia and they will tell you that pet care can be a very costly business. – News EditorUnwanted pregnancies* IT is sad news for her (the mother who was sent to jail for the murder of her three children) indeed, but on the other hand I believe that this is a very good example to all of us who commit a crime. I believe that the penalty is appropriate to discipline people who kill others. I am further requesting all MEN to take their responsibility as fathers. Why do you produce babies if you don’t want them? I encourage law enforcers to introduce tough penalties for those dumping babies.* A WOMAN kills three children and gets 25 years in jail, with circumstances not taken into consideration. How many men have killed others in this country and how many of them have received such a sentence? Their circumstances are always considered!From the regions* I AM a resident of Onambutu. Since my childhood in the seventies I’ve known this road between Eenhana and Oshigambo. Up to now this road remains a ‘road of death’ because of neglect and it’s unrehabilitated state. Roads that were constructed recently were tarred, why not this one. Is this political neglect or abandonment? We are talking about 17 years down the line after Independence. Will the Swapo congress pass a resolution to tar the road? We will really appreciate this.* I’M a concerned resident of Otjiwarongo. The problem here is the weak TV signal making it impossible to watch television with an indoor antenna. NBC TV must do something about it transmission. The N$204 for TV licence is no joke. And for two weeks now we have been unable to tune into the Oshiwambo service. What’s wrong with that station?* THE driver of the vehicle GRN 247439 with the Ministry of Health and Social Services stationed at Onkumbula in Okankolo constituency for DDT spraying purposes should refrain from using that car as of it is his personal property. He plays loud music at cuca-shops causing noise pollution. Please, some of us are taxpayers take note.* THE Otjiwarongo traffic police are not doing much to control the taxis at the town. Most taxis are operating illegally on the road, transporting people by using a taxi lamp only. Otjiwarongo traffic where are you? Wake up!* I WOULD like to call on the CEO of NHE to do something about the staff at his Oshakati office. The service there is pathetic and at a snail’s pace. Does it take a year to complete a house sale agreement? Does someone have to bribe someone for their transaction to be completed?* THIRST! We want water at Epoko village. The communal water tap is situated far from our village. We want a tap to be installed somewhere at Oshana Shapoko, because we are in the middle of Epoko. Tate Hakaye help us. We get water from Epoko Combined School or Okakwa and Okatumale but this is too far from us! – Nandiinotya, EpokoEducation * I AM very sick and tired of the way the Ministry of Education employs new teachers. Imagine a person right from the college works for four to six months without pay. Some times a person gets a post in a remote area where s/he has to struggle for accommodation and so on, but s/he does not have money to buy food or other basic needs and yet you expect such a teacher to give his or her best. How can you expect such a teacher to be motivated? This will affect the performance of the learners negatively. This ministry should try to speed up the payments for teachers if they expect good performance from teachers.* I AM a second-year student at the University of Namibia and have a serious problem with lecturers being away from their academic duties for a month and a half apparently attending to other work commitments. When they are back that’s when the mess starts, we are being rushed to complete the syllabus and guess what – most of us are rewarded with failing while the lecturer is being compensated with a cheque for failing us. Please limit their travelling, especially Mr T.* I HOPE that the Golden Maggy principal (Ongwediva) has read the response from the Ministry of Education, she sent the parents letters stating that ‘no learners will receive reports, if school development fund has not been paid’. There was once a time when children were sent out of class because of unpaid school funds.* TEACHING is a noble profession that requires a high degree of ethical values in every teacher even outside the official duties. Teachers should be role models for learners and should conduct themselves as such. It is of course also imperative that they are well rewarded and be given tools to execute their task. Teachers are not just there to criticise when we can also assist. Why are they leaving the profession at an alarming rate? There is a silver lining out there somewhere! They can’t starve forever! I’m afraid that this mother profession of all professions will slowly ship out if not shaped up. Let’s strive for positive changes fellow Namibians. – PHH* THE Institute for Open Learning (IOL) your students are really not happy with your service delivery. If it is not study materials not being delivered on time then it is changing the terms of payment for study contracts without the students’ consent. You do not hesitate to over-deduct and wrongly double-deduct on your students’ salaries, but you take far too long to correct your mistakes and refund your students. If the situation continues as it is, you are heading on a self-destructive path because your students on whom you depend for your survival are going to divorce from you, and you will be history. I am calling on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the operations of the said institution, especially the processing of study contracts.Food for thought * SAM Nujoma better explain to the 20 families in the Karas Region what happened to the grape farm at which he officiated as the then President? The Swapo leadership should now find ways to give back the promised land. It should be easy, the Nujoma family should bravely admit to having grabbed the land from its rightful owners. That would place Swapo in a position from which they can call fellow Namibians selfish, enemies and incompetent.* THE fact that most Government institutions and parastatals are always being linked to corrupt practices indicate clearly that the Government is CORRUPT! Ondobe Clinic responds * THE Ondobe clinic does not have an HR Department, thus all employees are recruited by the Ministry of Health through normal procedures. Concerning availability of medicines, you cannot put the blame on the nurses at the clinic, because as soon as the medicines are finished the nurses order them from the suppliers, as a result there is no a medicine supplying factory at the clinic. Mind you, the nurses are not the ones consuming the medicine but it’s a result of many patients treated at the clinic. In fact this applies to all clinics. The clinic is maintained by the cleaners in the way that they are supposed. The clinic building is old and it’s not the nurses’ responsibility to renovate the clinic, but the Government’s. Would you mind referring your SMS to the Ministry to renovate the clinic for it to look much cleaner. Finally, we should always learn to appreciate and be content rather judging everything on the face value, because of envy. Knowledge and skills are valuable tools we should learn to possess. Ondobe Clinic remains and will always be a State-owned property. Thank you.Thank you * VOTE of thanks to the City of Windhoek for listening to our request. The Kigali, Pretoria and Gaborone streets in Wanaheda were cleaned on Saturday. Hopefully it will be done regularly until we get tarred roads and not only when requested.Politics in general * IT is very honourable that President Pohamba avoided all the negative language we have been hearing from other Swapo leaders of late. His olive branch may have come out a bit too late though. It is such a great pity that two great men, Pohamba and Hidipo, are now on opposing sides.* GIVE me a break! How dare you say that Netumbo (Ndaitwah) withdrew from the race because of being labelled an RDP? Conscience was powerful. On the issue of Swapo being anti-Kwanyama, ignorance is at play here. The SWAPO president is in fact a Kwanyama. – Magano * CAN anybody please tell me how can two people make the Government lose its vision. HH and Nyamu are now blamed for all the wrongdoings in Swapo. How about the deteriorating health services and education just to mention two? What was the Head of State and the Cabinet doing and is it possible to be (allegedly) corrupted by two people? * THE blame for the failure of development projects under the former Minister of Foreign Affairs should not be squarely put on the shoulders of one person, but the Cabinet must take collective responsibility. It is narrow thinking and cheap politicking to repeatedly use failed projects as a means of winning the minds of illiterate rural masses. Let us accept political pluralism as the only way to achieve the goals of Vision 2030. Most of the RDP leaders are former Swapo members and now that they have formed their own party they are labelled as bad elements.* SWAPO has failed to show diplomacy in the way it reacted to the formation of RDP. Its leaders have created a false state of emergency. What is the fear of Swapo? If they know that they have governed right why should they panic and using derogatory labels against RDP? You don’t have to use propaganda, be logical and objective.* LISTEN dear SMS sender, we in our mighty Swapo will never and never have sleepless nights over the RDP. Please get that loud and clear.* I AGREE with the SMS in yesterday’s edition. (Margareth) Mensah-Williams has lost touch with reality. Even the majority of people don’t have access to primary healthcare. There are so many valuable things she can talk about. Sorry animal lovers. – Well, one can look at this from various angles! Because Ms Mensah-Williams is talking about a health plan for pets doesn’t mean that she does not care about primary healthcare. One does not exclude the other. If you follow National Council proceedings, you will be aware that the Councillor has been vocal on numerous pressing issues affecting people’s welfare. There are many pet lovers and pet owners in Namibia and they will tell you that pet care can be a very costly business. – News Editor Unwanted pregnancies * IT is sad news for her (the mother who was sent to jail for the murder of her three children) indeed, but on the other hand I believe that this is a very good example to all of us who commit a crime. I believe that the penalty is appropriate to discipline people who kill others. I am further requesting all MEN to take their responsibility as fathers. Why do you produce babies if you don’t want them? I encourage law enforcers to introduce tough penalties for those dumping babies.* A WOMAN kills three children and gets 25 years in jail, with circumstances not taken into consideration. How many men have killed others in this country and how many of them have received such a sentence? Their circumstances are always considered! From the regions * I AM a resident of Onambutu. Since my childhood in the seventies I’ve known this road between Eenhana and Oshigambo. Up to now this road remains a ‘road of death’ because of neglect and it’s unrehabilitated state. Roads that were constructed recently were tarred, why not this one. Is this political neglect or abandonment? We are talking about 17 years down the line after Independence. Will the Swapo congress pass a resolution to tar the road? We will really appreciate this.* I’M a concerned resident of Otjiwarongo. The problem here is the weak TV signal making it impossible to watch television with an indoor antenna. NBC TV must do something about it transmission. The N$204 for TV licence is no joke. And for two weeks now we have been unable to tune into the Oshiwambo service. What’s wrong with that station? * THE driver of the vehicle GRN 247439 with the Ministry of Health and Social Services stationed at Onkumbula in Okankolo constituency for DDT spraying purposes should refrain from using that car as of it is his personal property. He plays loud music at cuca-shops causing noise pollution. Please, some of us are taxpayers take note.* THE Otjiwarongo traffic police are not doing much to control the taxis at the town. Most taxis are operating illegally on the road, transporting people by using a taxi lamp only. Otjiwarongo traffic where are you? Wake up! * I WOULD like to call on the CEO of NHE to do something about the staff at his Oshakati office. The service there is pathetic and at a snail’s pace. Does it take a year to complete a house sale agreement? Does someone have to bribe someone for their transaction to be completed? * THIRST! We want water at Epoko village. The communal water tap is situated far from our village. We want a tap to be installed somewhere at Oshana Shapoko, because we are in the middle of Epoko. Tate Hakaye help us. We get water from Epoko Combined School or Okakwa and Okatumale but this is too far from us! – Nandiinotya, Epoko Education * I AM very sick and tired of the way the Ministry of Education employs new teachers. Imagine a person right from the college works for four to six months without pay. Some times a person gets a post in a remote area where s/he has to struggle for accommodation and so on, but s/he does not have money to buy food or other basic needs and yet you expect such a teacher to give his or her best. How can you expect such a teacher to be motivated? This will affect the performance of the learners negatively. This ministry should try to speed up the payments for teachers if they expect good performance from teachers.* I AM a second-year student at the University of Namibia and have a serious problem with lecturers being away from their academic duties for a month and a half apparently attending to other work commitments. When they are back that’s when the mess starts, we are being rushed to complete the syllabus and guess what – most of us are rewarded with failing while the lecturer is being compensated with a cheque for failing us. Please limit their travelling, especially Mr T.* I HOPE that the Golden Maggy principal (Ongwediva) has read the response from the Ministry of Education, she sent the parents letters stating that ‘no learners will receive reports, if school development fund has not been paid’. There was once a time when children were sent out of class because of unpaid school funds.* TEACHING is a noble profession that requires a high degree of ethical values in every teacher even outside the official duties. Teachers should be role models for learners and should conduct themselves as such. It is of course also imperative that they are well rewarded and be given tools to execute their task. Teachers are not just there to criticise when we can also assist. Why are they leaving the profession at an alarming rate? There is a silver lining out there somewhere! They can’t starve forever! I’m afraid that this mother profession of all professions will slowly ship out if not shaped up. Let’s strive for positive changes fellow Namibians. – PHH * THE Institute for Open Learning (IOL) your students are really not happy with your service delivery. If it is not study materials not being delivered on time then it is changing the terms of payment for study contracts without the students’ consent. You do not hesitate to over-deduct and wrongly double-deduct on your students’ salaries, but you take far too long to correct your mistakes and refund your students. If the situation continues as it is, you are heading on a self-destructive path because your students on whom you depend for your survival are going to divorce from you, and you will be history. I am calling on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the operations of the said institution, especially the processing of study contracts.