SMSes of the Day : Thursday

n TOTALITARIANISM is rearing its ugly head in this country.Censorship, and other familiar epithets of totalitarianism like leader of the revolution, father of the nation are commonplace.It is frightening listening to speeches like the one of (Hage) Geingob at Eenhana last Friday.The hatred, threat against the media, and human rights watchdog and the opposition is taking on a life of its own.Are there no limits to what responsible leaders can say?

n SHAME on you nurses, you don’t deserve to carry the candle that you carry during your graduation. You bring darkness in the lives of many people.Food for thought n UNDER normal circumstances, [Health Minister Richard] Kamwi should have resigned long before shifting Kalumbi Shangula (former PS), but this is Namibia where ministers take no responsibility.Most doctors at State hospitals are specialists who run various departments but the management is so poor and the junior doctors are always left alone without proper supervision, while the specialists attend to their private patients.The specialist in internal medicine only comes to the hospital once a week for an hour to do a round in the wards.Unless Government becomes serious and sends the junior doctors to school to specialise, things might not improve.The foreign doctors are only here for the money, except for the Cubans who work hard for no pay.n I AM an enthusiastic supporter of the BIG project and I would like to request our politicians to take this concept as seriously as Dr Hage Geingob is.However, since cash is fungible (interchangeable) and there is a great chance that the recipients of the N$100 might use it to buy alcohol rather than buy food and pay for school fees, the project should rather design food and children’s clothing vouchers that recipients submit to the shops in exchange for food and children’s clothing.The shop can then redeem its cash back from the BIG coalition or GRN.This system will really alleviate poverty in Namibia and reduce alcoholism among the poor.Health crisis n SHOCKING, shocking, shocking! Honourable Minister (Richard) Kamwi, your handling of the case of the snakebite of a baby will demonstrate to the public how seriously you take public complaints about the poor service delivery at the Katutura Hospital.Alternatively do the honourable thing and resign.How many must still die? n NURSES let us also stand together and refuse to care for more than six patients a day.The snake accident is a clear sign we are overworked and cannot focus! Please Napwu, leave it to Nanu to rescue us.n IT is sad to see the performance of the health professions at our State institutions.Is anybody going to do something? This (snakebite case) doubtfully is the only case which requires investigation.Sad, very sad.Condolences to the family.Politics in general n DEAR comrade Pohamba, you are our biggest hope, we love and respect you as our leader, but people start calling you a “toothless tiger” in the shebeens and it is difficult to defend you.You have all the power now, but if you keep on allowing the Ngurares, Siyauyas and Ekandjos to speak up undisputed, people will think that these are the official voices of our party and leave our ranks to join RDP in their numbers.Please don’t disappoint us, put your foot down, reshuffle your Cabinet and implement what you always wanted: a just and fair society free of corruption.That is what we also want – not a clique of fellows who attempt to justify inequalities and injustice with the merits some of them earned during the struggle.n PLEASE, President Pohamba, relieve our beloved secretary general of Swapo of her responsibilities in the Government.2009 is around the corner and we need her to have time to visit the regions and campaign together with the regional leadership.n DID the NBC just go to Eenhana last Friday, but not Saturday or what the hell is going on in our country? What’s happening to our democracy? It seems to me that Bob Kandetu and Elijah Ngurare finally reached an agreement not to cover RDP rallies.Thanks to The Namibian, otherwise we were not even going to see and know about the RDP candidates.n MR Hidipo Hamutenya you don’t need to be arrested to reveal all you know about the DBC corrupt activities.It is your constitutional right to do so, unless you don’t really have the interests of the masses at heart, as you seem to preach nowadays.- Kico, Oshigambo Education n THE problem of Grade 10 will always be there because the foundation of our learners is very weak.They are taught all the subjects in their mother tongue and the majority of these Grade 1-4 teachers cannot even speak English, so when these learners suddenly switch to English in Grade 5, they stare at their teachers, because they are being taught in English for the first time and don’t understand and their struggle continues until they reach Grade 10, where then teachers are expected to perform miracles.Change the Grade 1-4 curriculum.n PLEASE Ministry of Education, talk to your male teachers about wearing fashion clothing to school.They just wear All Star tekkies, Levis and Arsenal, Manchester, Chelsea, Liverpool etc T-shirts.They actually look more like Kwaito stars instead of teachers.n WHY does the Ministry of Education have unqualified heads of departments in most schools in the North? Most of them are of no help to qualified teachers they lead.So let all HODs be qualified for their departments.n WE need teachers’ houses in rural areas.Eighteen years after Independence we still have hundreds of teachers living in inhospitable ‘mbashus’, especially teachers who originate from the Caprivi region who work in the Ohangwena and Omusati regions.n INCAPABLE principals allow teachers to be beaten by learners in the classroom.Erongo director where are you? Are you aware of what is going on in your schools? Parents let us not allow this.We know how disrespectful our kids are.Let us secure safe working environment for our teachers.Teachers are humans, don’t forget they have rights.n MINISTER Nangolo Mbumba please tell me were to go.I’m a Basic Education Teacher Diploma holder, majoring in Needlework and Home Science 8-10.I completed 2005 but up to now I am unemployed.Last year we were told to submit all our previous applications and regret letters at any regional education office.I took mine at Oshikoto Education region and the senior personnel officer told us to leave our application forms pledging to come back to us if there are vacancies.But up to now I have not received any response.In the meantime I’m receiving reminders from the Ministry’s study loan scheme requesting me to pay back the loan.I was thinking of furthering my studies either at Polytech or Unam but have no money, but did not apply for a Government loan fearing that they will never give me another loan.What can I do? From the regions n HONOURABLE Prime Minister, Government vehicles are being misused at Tsumeb.Please, send your team to investigate.Our hearts are bleeding.The Police are afraid to arrest high-ranking Government officials.n EENHANA Town Council please we are sick and tired of your late bills.Can you please send our bills on time as other towns do.Please Mr.Hangula do something immediately, we want quality service.Consumer concerns n TAXI fares are going up on top of all inflation in the country, but Government is only prepared to raise the civil servants salaries by 5% after six years.It will only be fair if civil servants get at least 10%.n TAXI fares better not go up again this time.We’re tired of paying more on taxi fares for ourselves, our school going children and our domestic workers.We pay more for for groceries with suppliers citing an increase in fuel prices.The question that is never answered is: Why are our salaries not adjusted when fuel prices rise? n WHY have bread prices gone up so drastically? Why? please can someone answer me.Bread was only N$4,50 but has now jumped to N$7,50.We can no longer afford it.It’s too high for our poor people who survive mainly on bread.What makes the price so high? – Karel/Norman n SO MTC is celebrating having delivered over 1 billion SMSes in 2007.Despite this feat they cannot deliver my SMSes, especially on Friday.For one SMS that goes through after repeated struggles you are charged as if you have sent multiple SMSes.When questioned they said it’s a technical problem – their technical problem.But they don’t compensate you for overcharging.n NORED electricity at Helao Nafidi always has a power crisis.What is going on? Our appliances are damaged, food gets rotten.Please we are tired! n WILL Telecom ask us to pay the full rate this month? Their inability to fix the 3G Internet problems shows that they were never ready to offer these services.General n WAS Sam Nujoma the only person who fought for Independence that every stadium and every street have to be named after him? n I’M disappointed with GTV.For the last two weekends, I could not watch Man United vs Man City nor could I watch Man U vs Arsenal in the FA Cup.Why are you in business if you can’t deliver? All you could force us to watch was teams without support, Serie A and Bundesliga.I did not move from DStv to watch those games.My weekends were wasted.n CAN the City of Windhoek please remove the noisy tent at the corner of Jerusalem and Klemens Kapuuo streets.This is noise pollution at its highest.Our children cannot even do their homework in peace.Listening to news is an uphill battle.This is not a church.It is a live band playing music so loud, you will not even hear a bomb explode.Why do we have to be subjected to such noise? We also pay rates and taxes.n WHY is the Windhoek Municipality using estimates to determine monthly water bills, while you employ people to read water meters at our houses? Stop robbing your clients and use accurate figures.We want to pay for what we have used but not what an average household in the suburb has used.We are trying by all means to make sure that our water consumption is as minimal as possible but our effort does not pay off at the end of the month.n MINISTER Mutorwa, Dr Veii, and Mr Mogane, since Independence, all Sport Commissioners appointed are Windhoek based.Are you guys serious? Thank you! n WELL done to the municipality or whoever pruned the trees opposite Unam.They have done an excellent job.n THUMBS up to the CEO of the MVA fund and his team for the latest changes to the fund! You guys are making tremendous positive changes in our society._____ Ministry of Education responds THE Ministry of Education has taken time out to respond to a number of the complaints about the Education Sector, which have been SMSed to The Namibian: PLEASE Minister of Education, do something about Grade 10 failures.We still have kids who failed and are sitting at home.Please do what the Presidents of this country promised – to re-admit Grade 10 failures.If there are some people in your offices who don’t want to follow this directive then they have a different agenda.- The Ministry of Education will pronounce itself on the Grade 10 issue in due course.PALLY Carstens Primary School in the Hardap Region accommodates Grade 5, 6 and 7 learners in one classroom with one teacher.Is the Ministry aware that this has been happening for many years? – It is true that 49 learners (Grade 5, 6, 7) are sharing one classroom.This has been the case since last year when one of the schools in the area was closed down and learners were transferred to Pally Carstens P.S.There has been a delay in the appointment of teachers at the school, because the two teachers who were appointed got teaching jobs at their school of choice.The Ministry is currently busy interviewing teachers to fill the vacant post.The school has enough classrooms and it is one of the best performing primary schools in the region with a pass rate of over 80 per cent, due to the commitment of teachers and management.MINISTRY of Education, what are you waiting for? Introduce uniforms for teachers like other Ministries.We are in need of and we want to save the money we spend on clothes.- The Ministry cannot force teachers to wear uniforms.It is really up to the schools themselves to decide whether they want a uniform for their teachers and staff members.Many schools are doing that, such as Andreas Haingura Kandjimi Primary School in the Kavango Region.Your school and others are welcome to contact them for advice.EDUCATION PRO, the law says a child must be seven years old when they start school.That means those born after say March will be 17 by the time they reach Grade 10, but the regulation say they can repeat provided they are under 17.Please explain the logic behind all this to the public.- The policy does not states that only those who are under 17 can repeat, but learners who are 17 years and younger.However, if a learner repeats grades between 1-10 many times, and later passes Grade 10 at the age of 18 or more, even with 21 years, the learner can still continue onto Grade 11.Yours in Education Public Relations OfficeYou bring darkness in the lives of many people.Food for thought n UNDER normal circumstances, [Health Minister Richard] Kamwi should have resigned long before shifting Kalumbi Shangula (former PS), but this is Namibia where ministers take no responsibility.Most doctors at State hospitals are specialists who run various departments but the management is so poor and the junior doctors are always left alone without proper supervision, while the specialists attend to their private patients.The specialist in internal medicine only comes to the hospital once a week for an hour to do a round in the wards.Unless Government becomes serious and sends the junior doctors to school to specialise, things might not improve.The foreign doctors are only here for the money, except for the Cubans who work hard for no pay.n I AM an enthusiastic supporter of the BIG project and I would like to request our politicians to take this concept as seriously as Dr Hage Geingob is.However, since cash is fungible (interchangeable) and there is a great chance that the recipients of the N$100 might use it to buy alcohol rather than buy food and pay for school fees, the project should rather design food and children’s clothing vouchers that recipients submit to the shops in exchange for food and children’s clothing.The shop can then redeem its cash back from the BIG coalition or GRN.This system will really alleviate poverty in Namibia and reduce alcoholism among the poor. Health crisis n SHOCKING, shocking, shocking! Honourable Minister (Richard) Kamwi, your handling of the case of the snakebite of a baby will demonstrate to the public how seriously you take public complaints about the poor service delivery at the Katutura Hospital.Alternatively do the honourable thing and resign.How many must still die? n NURSES let us also stand together and refuse to care for more than six patients a day.The snake accident is a clear sign we are overworked and cannot focus! Please Napwu, leave it to Nanu to rescue us.n IT is sad to see the performance of the health professions at our State institutions.Is anybody going to do something? This (snakebite case) doubtfully is the only case which requires investigation.Sad, very sad.Condolences to the family. Politics in general n DEAR comrade Pohamba, you are our biggest hope, we love and respect you as our leader, but people start calling you a “toothless tiger” in the shebeens and it is difficult to defend you.You have all the power now, but if you keep on allowing the Ngurares, Siyauyas and Ekandjos to speak up undisputed, people will think that these are the official voices of our party and leave our ranks to join RDP in their numbers.Please don’t disappoint us, put your foot down, reshuffle your Cabinet and implement what you always wanted: a just and fair society free of corruption.That is what we also want – not a clique of fellows who attempt to justify inequalities and injustice with the merits some of them earned during the struggle. n PLEASE, President Pohamba, relieve our beloved secretary general of Swapo of her responsibilities in the Government.2009 is around the corner and we need her to have time to visit the regions and campaign together with the regional leadership.n DID the NBC just go to Eenhana last Friday, but not Saturday or what the hell is going on in our country? What’s happening to our democracy? It seems to me that Bob Kandetu and Elijah Ngurare finally reached an agreement not to cover RDP rallies.Thanks to The Namibian, otherwise we were not even going to see and know about the RDP candidates.n MR Hidipo Hamutenya you don’t need to be arrested to reveal all you know about the DBC corrupt activities.It is your constitutional right to do so, unless you don’t really have the interests of the masses at heart, as you seem to preach nowadays.- Kico, Oshigambo Education n THE problem of Grade 10 will always be there because the foundation of our learners is very weak.They are taught all the subjects in their mother tongue and the majority of these Grade 1-4 teachers cannot even speak English, so when these learners suddenly switch to English in Grade 5, they stare at their teachers, because they are being taught in English for the first time and don’t understand and their struggle continues until they reach Grade 10, where then teachers are expected to perform miracles.Change the Grade 1-4 curriculum.n PLEASE Ministry of Education, talk to your male teachers about wearing fashion clothing to school.They just wear All Star tekkies, Levis and Arsenal, Manchester, Chelsea, Liverpool etc T-shirts.They actually look more like Kwaito stars instead of teachers.n WHY does the Ministry of Education have unqualified heads of departments in most schools in the North? Most of them are of no help to qualified teachers they lead.So let all HODs be qualified for their departments. n WE need teachers’ houses in rural areas.Eighteen years after Independence we still have hundreds of teachers living in inhospitable ‘mbashus’, especially teachers who originate from the Caprivi region who work in the Ohangwena and Omusati regions.n INCAPABLE principals allow teachers to be beaten by learners in the classroom.Erongo director where are you? Are you aware of what is going on in your schools? Parents let us not allow this.We know how disrespectful our kids are.Let us secure safe working environment for our teachers.Teachers are humans, don’t forget they have rights.n MINISTER Nangolo Mbumba please tell me were to go.I’m a Basic Education Teacher Diploma holder, majoring in Needlework and Home Science 8-10.I completed 2005 but up to now I am unemployed.Last year we were told to submit all our previous applications and regret letters at any regional education office.I took mine at Oshikoto Education region and the senior personnel officer told us to leave our application forms pledging to come back to us if there are vacancies.But up to now I have not received any response.In the meantime I’m receiving reminders from the Ministry’s study loan scheme requesting me to pay back the loan.I was thinking of furthering my studies either at Polytech or Unam but have no money, but did not apply for a Government loan fearing that they will never give me another loan.What can I do? From the regions n HONOURABLE Prime Minister, Government vehicles are being misused at Tsumeb.Please, send your team to investigate.Our hearts are bleeding.The Police are afraid to arrest high-ranking Government officials.n EENHANA Town Council please we are sick and tired of your late bills.Can you please send our bills on time as other towns do.Please Mr.Hangula do something immediately, we want quality service. Consumer concerns n TAXI fares are going up on top of all inflation in the country, but Government is only prepared to raise the civil servants salaries by 5% after six years.It will only be fair if civil servants get at least 10%.n TAXI fares better not go up again this time.We’re tired of paying more on taxi fares for ourselves, our school going children and our domestic workers.We pay more for for groceries with suppliers citing an increase in fuel prices.The question that is never answered is: Why are our salaries not adjusted when fuel prices rise? n WHY have bread prices gone up so drastically? Why? please can someone answer me.Bread was only N$4,50 but has now jumped to N$7,50.We can no longer afford it.It’s too high for our poor people who survive mainly on bread.What makes the price so high? – Karel/Norman n SO MTC is celebrating having delivered over 1 billion SMSes in 2007.Despite this feat they cannot deliver my SMSes, especially on Friday.For one SMS that goes through after repeated struggles you are charged as if you have sent multiple SMSes.When questioned they said it’s a technical problem – their technical problem.But they don’t compensate you for overcharging. n NORED electricity at Helao Nafidi always has a power crisis.What is going on? Our appliances are damaged, food gets rotten.Please we are tired! n WILL Telecom ask us to pay the full rate this month? Their inability to fix the 3G Internet problems shows that they were never ready to offer these services. General n WAS Sam Nujoma the only person who fought for Independence that every stadium and every street have to be named after him? n I’M disappointed with GTV.For the last two weekends, I could not watch Man United vs Man City nor could I watch Man U vs Arsenal in the FA Cup.Why are you in business if you can’t deliver? All you could force us to watch was teams without support, Serie A and Bundesliga.I did not move from DStv to watch those games.My weekends were wasted.n CAN the City of Windhoek please remove the noisy tent at the corner of Jerusalem and Klemens Kapuuo streets.This is noise pollution at its highest.Our children cannot even do their homework in peace.Listening to news is an uphill battle.This is not a church.It is a live band playing music so loud, you will not even hear a bomb explode.Why do we have to be subjected to such noise? We also pay rates and taxes.n WHY is the Windhoek Municipality using estimates to determine monthly water bills, while you employ people to read water meters at our houses? Stop robbing your clients and use accurate figures.We want to pay for what we have used but not what an average household in the suburb has used.We are trying by all means to make sure that our water consumption is as minimal as possible but our effort does not pay off at the end of the month.n MINISTER Mutorwa, Dr Veii, and Mr Mogane, since Independence, all Sport Commissioners appointed are Windhoek based.Are you guys serious? Thank you! n WELL done to the municipality or whoever pruned the trees opposite Unam.They have done an excellent job.n THUMBS up to the CEO of the MVA fund and his team for the latest changes to the fund! You guys are making tremendous positive changes in our society._____ Ministry of Education responds THE Ministry of Education has taken time out to respond to a number of the complaints about the Education Sector, which have been SMSed to The Namibian: PLEASE Minister of Education, do something about Grade 10 failures.We still have kids who failed and are sitting at home.Please do what the Presidents of this country promised – to re-admit Grade 10 failures.If there are some people in your offices who don’t want to follow this directive then they have a different agenda.- The Ministry of Education will pronounce itself on the Grade 10 issue in due course.PALLY Carstens Primary School in the Hardap Region accommodates Grade 5, 6 and 7 learners in one classroom with one teacher.Is the Ministry aware that this has been happening for many years? – It is true that 49 learners (Grade 5, 6, 7) are sharing one classroom.This has been the case since last year when one of the schools in the area was closed down and learners were transferred to Pally Carstens P.S.There has been a delay in the appointment of teachers at the school, because the two teachers who were appointed got teaching jobs at their school of choice.The Ministry is currently busy interviewing teachers to fill the vacant post.The school has enough classrooms and it is one of the best performing primary schools in the region with a pass rate of over 80 per cent, due to the commitment of teachers and management. MINISTRY of Education, what are you waiting for? Introduce uniforms for teachers like other Ministries.We are in need of and we want to save the money we spend on clothes.- The Ministry cannot force teachers to wear uniforms.It is really up to the schools themselves to decide whether they want a uniform for their teachers and staff members.Many schools are doing that, such as Andreas Haingura Kandjimi Primary School in the Kavango Region.Your school and others are welcome to contact them for advice. EDUCATION PRO, the law says a child must be seven years old when they start school.That means those born after say March will be 17 by the time they reach Grade 10, but the regulation say they can repeat provided they are under 17.Please explain the logic behind all this to the public.- The policy does not states that only those who are under 17 can repeat, but learners who are 17 years and younger.However, if a learner repeats grades between 1-10 many times, and later passes Grade 10 at the age of 18 or more, even with 21 years, the learner can still continue onto Grade 11. Yours in Education Public Relations Office