SMSes of the Day : Thursday

* EVERY morning we write the electricity readings on a spreadsheet.For some time now we have switched on the geyser for half-an-hour in the morning. The water is still hot enough in the evening and the savings are remarkable.

* GOOD luck to the Brave Warriors for a job well done. They really showed us that they’ve got the will to win and to be a competitive force in world football. Better luck next time – we will go beyond the group stages. You have really improved with each game. Food for Thought* I WANT to remind the Government that as they are planning to pay out ex-combatants they should also think of war orphans, because many of them are unemployed. Remember that the parents of these children died in the struggle for the independence of our country.* MR Phil ya Nangoloh, you are a brave man. Do you know that in most towns in Namibia water has been cut off. This a human rights violation. Please fight for the cause of those who cannot defend themselves. It is illegal to disconnect water in South Africa.NBC strike* THE strike at the NBC is nothing other than a hidden agenda and a politically motivated initial stage to oust comrades Bob Kandetu, the Director General, and Minister Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah. Watch out, it is not a joke.* MR Kandetu don’t resign. This is part of Swapo’s dirty politics. That salary problem started a long time ago before your appointment. The Government must bail out NBC as they did with Air Namibia many times. The NBC is just a parastatal like others. – Letty* THE union involvement in the NBC saga, as can be seen from Evilastus Kaaronda’s statements, is to try and kill two birds with one stone. The workers’ demands and trying to get rid of the management and board. This is a perfect opportunity for them.* THE NBC is Government’s baby, as it is State-funded. Why is Government not providing the needed money to pay salary increases?* THE all-day music during the strike on NBC Radio is great! Maybe they should be on strike more often. – Norman Tjombe* NBC workers don’t go back to work because we need you no more. We have One Africa in our sitting rooms.* WHY should we as NBC viewers be punished just because of people who are not capable of doing their jobs?* NBC you told the nation to pay TV licences, but there are no programmes.* MR Kandetu, please give the NBC employees a pay hike, as we want to view our favourite programmes.* HAVE we already been sold out to the Chinese that we have to endure their TV for hours on end on NBC?* WHAT’S up! Does it mean because the Chinese are in our country we viewers also like watching their programmes on TV the whole day. Is this the reason we pay our licences. Come on NBC, give us better service.* TODAY is an historic day for NBC at last! The State broadcaster has just been baptised with a new name: Chinese Broadcasting TV Network of Namibia, because of its new name we the TV licence holders and taxpayers for that matter can only view Chinese news and programmes. No more local programmes. CBNoN could at least start broadcasting Afcon. We can only hope for better TV programmes. We at least have a choice to view One Africa or TBN.* MR Kandetu remember that we are not paying our TV licences for CCTV. Please try to resolve your employee problem.* CAN the NBC management please tell us why we have to watch CCTV the whole day? Are we paying TV licences to we watch CCTV? It is bad enough that our towns are being taken over, but our national TV? This is insane and as a young Namibian I feel like our leaders have sold us out to foreigners!* NBC please give the jobs left by the striking employees to the many unemployed, but capable Namibians! We can’t live without information at this crucial time in Namibian politics!* WATCHING NBC nowadays is not even worth it or even paying for the NBC TV licence. I mean they don’t broadcast anything worth watching, compared to One Africa. I’d rather watch DVDs or One Africa TV.* THE NBC can close down anyway as it is a waste of money paying TV licences.* SOMETIMES we take things for granted, just to realise the importance thereof later. Just imagine what would it be like if all media staff go on strike. We cannot live without the media, therefore we have to show appreciation to the media. – PennyPolitics in general* THE Swapo-led Government cares about its people. No doubt about it. What it needs is an electorate that holds it accountable to them.* SHAME on Unam! What right do you think you have to deprive our intellectuals, Dr TCK Iijambo and Mr Maamberuua of Swanu, from participating in active politics? If you want them out, Dr Sam Nujoma should also relinquish his Chancellorship of Unam on February 29, as is expected of the Swanu leaders.* I HEAR that Minister John Pandeni and Deputy Speaker Doreen Sioka have been sent to Caprivi to resolve the political crisis there and to discipline the regional councillors in the region. Why and for what offence for heaven’s sake? And what will be the role of Doreen there since she comes from that region and she failed to show leadership and preferred to ignore her people. – Kazuba* ALL regional councils in Namibia adhered to the Swapo Party directive to retain the serving Governors. Only the Caprivi Region defied that. However I wish to call on the Swapo Party to leave no stone unturned and uproot these defiant councillors. I want to remind those councillors that no opposition party will rule this country, not even win elections in that region.* MR Hidipo Hamutenya, who do you think you are fooling? You were in Swapo’s Central Committee and the Political Buro. It doesn’t make sense saying that Swapo made empty promises. You better include yourself among those who made empty promises. You were very close to Sam Nujoma than any other person in Swapo for many years, so you are part of every thing good or bad the party did. Now you are complaining about bad road in Ohangwena.* WITH the surprise changes in its secretariat it seems Swapo wants to rule with an iron fist. It does not mean that if [Netumbo] Nandi Ndaitwah supported Hamutenya during the Swapo presidential contest she is an RDP. Please stop driving people away from the party.* IT seems that the Swapo Party is seeing RDP members under every bed and in all sorts of places where there are none! Have they checked their car boots? It seems the ruling party is becoming paranoid.* ASSER Ntinda of Namibia Today is correct when stating that RDP should not be the obsession of Swapo. Strangely, he has been devoting months of reporting focusing on RDP by so doing profiling that party. The same applies to the clueless Swapo Youth League, which has no other agenda item than propelling the campaign of the RDP more than the RDP leadership itself. Lastly we have a leadership that is so confused to the extent they don’t have anything else to talk about at political rallies. Campaign for Swapo and not profiling RDP. What a shame! Don’t we have political strategists?* I NEITHER belong to Swapo or the RDP, but I would like to say that even if the RDP doesn’t win, it will keep Swapo on its toes. However, I have observed that Swapo is acting like amateurs. I won’t be surprised if RDP wins. Swapo, if you are untouchable as you always claim to be, why do you feel so threatened? Please do us Namibians a favour, stop telling us what you did for us and rather tell us how you plan to alleviate poverty, hunger, etc. then maybe you will win more votes. RDP stop telling us what Swapo did not do and tell us what change you will bring. – Zinga, ArandisFrom the regions* CONGRATULATIONS Mr Mwilima, the newly elected Governor for Caprivi. We wait for more development in the Caprivi Region, but shame on you and your fellow four councillors for promoting tribalism. Do not expect any respect and comradeship from the Bekuhane tribe. Please bear in mind that you are a Governor only for the Mafwes and not the Masubia.* CONGRATULATIONS Leonard Mwilima for being elected the Government of Caprivi. We want to see changes in the region. – Fee* WE the cattle owners grazing at Okatjikurunda in the Ovitoto area are not being listened to. We did not remove the fence but thieves did. Why do you expect us to replace a fence that we did not remove? What benefits are we going to get? Our cattle are going there because there is no fence between us. Look after your property because your fence of 3 200 hectares land was stolen within six months of your stay here. Confiscating our cattle will not help because we will not pay for our cattle grazing on land without a fence. – KR Kaumunika* PLEASE Sidadi Clinic at Rosh Pinah must employ somebody who can speak Oshiwambo or Kavango in order to help those patients who cannot speak Afrikaans and English. Receptionist doesn’t have a good attitude and doesn’t know how to talk to the patients.* WE, the people from Omuthitugwalwani in Elim Constituency also need development like other villages. We need electricity at our village and at the Kampelo Combined School. Councillor, please do something. – FM ShipepeEducation* A REMINDER to the Ministry of Education. Please remember the agreement you signed with Nantu on increasing teachers salaries. We want our cash now in April.* WHY is the new faculty of engineering under construction at Ongwediva not being built at Gobabis or Keetmanshoop, Rehoboth or even Okahandja?* CORRUPTION in the form of favouritism, nepotism and friendship to the inspector is thriving in the Erongo Region. In 2006 the school board recommended someone else as principal at Hanganeni Primary School but our Inspector appointed someone else. It is killing education in this region.* OSHIGAMBO High School, please do something about your English results! What happened to the American teachers who used to teach us from Grade 8 to 12? This year’s English results are a disgrace to us former learners! Congratulations for the good performances in other subjects and please maintain our school’s high standards! – Former leaner* MINISTER Nangolo Mbumba come to the Hermann Gmeiner Technical School at Swakopmund. This school is busy falling apart. I don’t know whether the inspector realised that she made a mistake with the appointment of the current principal. Schools started on January 16, but no teaching has taken place until now due to poor management. What’s going on? Ask for the books of the learners and see what I mean.* DEAR Minister of Education, I have been the parent of a pupil at Boys School Pioneer for the past three years and will be frank with you – as the saying goes ‘straight talk breaks no friendship’. Do you or any of your inspectors know of the anarchy, the total chaos at this school? Please pay the school a visit and see what your ‘competent’ school management is up to. No child can be educated in such chaos.Say what!* AMERICA must take the responsibility if the spy satellite falls on our continent.* DEAR Editor if you believe that a dog can give birth to a cat please, we the readers are not that stupid. This story is an insult to the readers intelligence. For what do you take us? – We know our readers are intelligent, which is why we ran the story as it was told to us by those concerned. Obviously something else happened – what we don’t know – but it is touching that the dog is mothering the kitten! – Newsdesk* THE NBC off air? I never noticed.General* TO the staff of our beloved The Namibian newspaper. Don’t worry about the advertising dollars from the Government. They all love and read The Namibian every morning day in and day out – all of them, from cabinet level to the clerks. Keep strong and keep going. You are doing just fine. – Supporter of press freedom from Omusati* WHAT’S up with Unam or Nursing Council? We are newly qualified registered Nurses and have paid our registration fee of N$300 to the council. We have been waiting patiently for three weeks for our approval certificate from the council in order to commence work. Now why the delay? Please this is poor service and we are suffering and want our approvals as soon as possible!* THE Ministry of Finance and its Public Service Medical Aid Scheme (PSemas) must shoulder the blame for allowing health service providers-cum fraudsters to cheat the taxpayers. No one was ever prosecuted before, so no one will be prosecuted this time. Period.* THE Psemas medical aid is being abused because it has many loopholes. Why can’t you run it like NMC and Bankmed.* MR Schlettwein, the fraud at Psemas is your problem. All we want is service, and we cannot get it. My child needed emergency treatment after swallowing a coin by accident. Nobody could help us because we have Psemas medical aid and we had to go to the Katutura hospital and wait six hours.Food for Thought * I WANT to remind the Government that as they are planning to pay out ex-combatants they should also think of war orphans, because many of them are unemployed. Remember that the parents of these children died in the struggle for the independence of our country.* MR Phil ya Nangoloh, you are a brave man. Do you know that in most towns in Namibia water has been cut off. This a human rights violation. Please fight for the cause of those who cannot defend themselves. It is illegal to disconnect water in South Africa.NBC strike * THE strike at the NBC is nothing other than a hidden agenda and a politically motivated initial stage to oust comrades Bob Kandetu, the Director General, and Minister Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah. Watch out, it is not a joke.* MR Kandetu don’t resign. This is part of Swapo’s dirty politics. That salary problem started a long time ago before your appointment. The Government must bail out NBC as they did with Air Namibia many times. The NBC is just a parastatal like others. – Letty * THE union involvement in the NBC saga, as can be seen from Evilastus Kaaronda’s statements, is to try and kill two birds with one stone. The workers’ demands and trying to get rid of the management and board. This is a perfect opportunity for them.* THE NBC is Government’s baby, as it is State-funded. Why is Government not providing the needed money to pay salary increases? * THE all-day music during the strike on NBC Radio is great! Maybe they should be on strike more often. – Norman Tjombe * NBC workers don’t go back to work because we need you no more. We have One Africa in our sitting rooms.* WHY should we as NBC viewers be punished just because of people who are not capable of doing their jobs? * NBC you told the nation to pay TV licences, but there are no programmes.* MR Kandetu, please give the NBC employees a pay hike, as we want to view our favourite programmes.* HAVE we already been sold out to the Chinese that we have to endure their TV for hours on end on NBC? * WHAT’S up! Does it mean because the Chinese are in our country we viewers also like watching their programmes on TV the whole day. Is this the reason we pay our licences. Come on NBC, give us better service.* TODAY is an historic day for NBC at last! The State broadcaster has just been baptised with a new name: Chinese Broadcasting TV Network of Namibia, because of its new name we the TV licence holders and taxpayers for that matter can only view Chinese news and programmes. No more local programmes. CBNoN could at least start broadcasting Afcon. We can only hope for better TV programmes. We at least have a choice to view One Africa or TBN.* MR Kandetu remember that we are not paying our TV licences for CCTV. Please try to resolve your employee problem.* CAN the NBC management please tell us why we have to watch CCTV the whole day? Are we paying TV licences to we watch CCTV? It is bad enough that our towns are being taken over, but our national TV? This is insane and as a young Namibian I feel like our leaders have sold us out to foreigners! * NBC please give the jobs left by the striking employees to the many unemployed, but capable Namibians! We can’t live without information at this crucial time in Namibian politics! * WATCHING NBC nowadays is not even worth it or even paying for the NBC TV licence. I mean they don’t broadcast anything worth watching, compared to One Africa. I’d rather watch DVDs or One Africa TV.* THE NBC can close down anyway as it is a waste of money paying TV licences.* SOMETIMES we take things for granted, just to realise the importance thereof later. Just imagine what would it be like if all media staff go on strike. We cannot live without the media, therefore we have to show appreciation to the media. – Penny Politics in general * THE Swapo-led Government cares about its people. No doubt about it. What it needs is an electorate that holds it accountable to them.* SHAME on Unam! What right do you think you have to deprive our intellectuals, Dr TCK Iijambo and Mr Maamberuua of Swanu, from participating in active politics? If you want them out, Dr Sam Nujoma should also relinquish his Chancellorship of Unam on February 29, as is expected of the Swanu leaders.* I HEAR that Minister John Pandeni and Deputy Speaker Doreen Sioka have been sent to Caprivi to resolve the political crisis there and to discipline the regional councillors in the region. Why and for what offence for heaven’s sake? And what will be the role of Doreen there since she comes from that region and she failed to show leadership and preferred to ignore her people. – Kazuba * ALL regional councils in Namibia adhered to the Swapo Party directive to retain the serving Governors. Only the Caprivi Region defied that. However I wish to call on the Swapo Party to leave no stone unturned and uproot these defiant councillors. I want to remind those councillors that no opposition party will rule this country, not even win elections in that region.* MR Hidipo Hamutenya, who do you think you are fooling? You were in Swapo’s Central Committee and the Political Buro. It doesn’t make sense saying that Swapo made empty promises. You better include yourself among those who made empty promises. You were very close to Sam Nujoma than any other person in Swapo for many years, so you are part of every thing good or bad the party did. Now you are complaining about bad road in Ohangwena.* WITH the surprise changes in its secretariat it seems Swapo wants to rule with an iron fist. It does not mean that if [Netumbo] Nandi Ndaitwah supported Hamutenya during the Swapo presidential contest she is an RDP. Please stop driving people away from the party.* IT seems that the Swapo Party is seeing RDP members under every bed and in all sorts of places where there are none! Have they checked their car boots? It seems the ruling party is becoming paranoid.* ASSER Ntinda of Namibia Today is correct when stating that RDP should not be the obsession of Swapo. Strangely, he has been devoting months of reporting focusing on RDP by so doing profiling that party. The same applies to the clueless Swapo Youth League, which has no other agenda item than propelling the campaign of the RDP more than the RDP leadership itself. Lastly we have a leadership that is so confused to the extent they don’t have anything else to talk about at political rallies. Campaign for Swapo and not profiling RDP. What a shame! Don’t we have political strategists? * I NEITHER belong to Swapo or the RDP, but I would like to say that even if the RDP doesn’t win, it will keep Swapo on its toes. However, I have observed that Swapo is acting like amateurs. I won’t be surprised if RDP wins. Swapo, if you are untouchable as you always claim to be, why do you feel so threatened? Please do us Namibians a favour, stop telling us what you did for us and rather tell us how you plan to alleviate poverty, hunger, etc. then maybe you will win more votes. RDP stop telling us what Swapo did not do and tell us what change you will bring. – Zinga, Arandis From the regions * CONGRATULATIONS Mr Mwilima, the newly elected Governor for Caprivi. We wait for more development in the Caprivi Region, but shame on you and your fellow four councillors for promoting tribalism. Do not expect any respect and comradeship from the Bekuhane tribe. Please bear in mind that you are a Governor only for the Mafwes and not the Masubia.* CONGRATULATIONS Leonard Mwilima for being elected the Government of Caprivi. We want to see changes in the region. – Fee * WE the cattle owners grazing at Okatjikurunda in the Ovitoto area are not being listened to. We did not remove the fence but thieves did. Why do you expect us to replace a fence that we did not remove? What benefits are we going to get? Our cattle are going there because there is no fence between us. Look after your property because your fence of 3 200 hectares land was stolen within six months of your stay here. Confiscating our cattle will not help because we will not pay for our cattle grazing on land without a fence. – KR Kaumunika * PLEASE Sidadi Clinic at Rosh Pinah must employ somebody who can speak Oshiwambo or Kavango in order to help those patients who cannot speak Afrikaans and English. Receptionist doesn’t have a good attitude and doesn’t know how to talk to the patients.* WE, the people from Omuthitugwalwani in Elim Constituency also need development like other villages. We need electricity at our village and at the Kampelo Combined School. Councillor, please do something. – FM Shipepe Education * A REMINDER to the Ministry of Education. Please remember the agreement you signed with Nantu on increasing teachers salaries. We want our cash now in April.* WHY is the new faculty of engineering under construction at Ongwediva not being built at Gobabis or Keetmanshoop, Rehoboth or even Okahandja? * CORRUPTION in the form of favouritism, nepotism and friendship to the inspector is thriving in the Erongo Region. In 2006 the school board recommended someone else as principal at Hanganeni Primary School but our Inspector appointed someone else. It is killing education in this region.* OSHIGAMBO High School, please do something about your English results! What happened to the American teachers who used to teach us from Grade 8 to 12? This year’s English results are a disgrace to us former learners! Congratulations for the good performances in other subjects and please maintain our school’s high standards! – Former leaner * MINISTER Nangolo Mbumba come to the Hermann Gmeiner Technical School at Swakopmund. This school is busy falling apart. I don’t know whether the inspector realised that she made a mistake with the appointment of the current principal. Schools started on January 16, but no teaching has taken place until now due to poor management. What’s going on? Ask for the books of the learners and see what I mean.* DEAR Minister of Education, I have been the parent of a pupil at Boys School Pioneer for the past three years and will be frank with you – as the saying goes ‘straight talk breaks no friendship’. Do you or any of your inspectors know of the anarchy, the total chaos at this school? Please pay the school a visit and see what your ‘competent’ school management is up to. No child can be educated in such chaos.Say what! * AMERICA must take the responsibility if the spy satellite falls on our continent.* DEAR Editor if you believe that a dog can give birth to a cat please, we the readers are not that stupid. This story is an insult to the readers intelligence. For what do you take us? – We know our readers are intelligent, which is why we ran the story as it was told to us by those concerned. Obviously something else happened – what we don’t know – but it is touching that the dog is mothering the kitten! – Newsdesk * THE NBC off air? I never noticed.General * TO the staff of our beloved The Namibian newspaper. Don’t worry about the advertising dollars from the Government. They all love and read The Namibian every morning day in and day out – all of them, from cabinet level to the clerks. Keep strong and keep going. You are doing just fine. – Supporter of press freedom from Omusati * WHAT’S up with Unam or Nursing Council? We are newly qualified registered Nurses and have paid our registration fee of N$300 to the council. We have been waiting patiently for three weeks for our approval certificate from the council in order to commence work. Now why the delay? Please this is poor service and we are suffering and want our approvals as soon as possible! * THE Ministry of Finance and its Public Service Medical Aid Scheme (PSemas) must shoulder the blame for allowing health service providers-cum fraudsters to cheat the taxpayers. No one was ever prosecuted before, so no one will be prosecuted this time. Period.* THE Psemas medical aid is being abused because it has many loopholes. Why can’t you run it like NMC and Bankmed.* MR Schlettwein, the fraud at Psemas is your problem. All we want is service, and we cannot get it. My child needed emergency treatment after swallowing a coin by accident. Nobody could help us because we have Psemas medical aid and we had to go to the Katutura hospital and wait six hours.