SMSes of the Day : Tuesday

* IPRESIDENT Pohamba, congratulations on your strong stance for an independent judiciary! I salute you and your attitude to the responsibility of leadership.

* I WISH that our youth could be just as enthusiastic about their future and their lives as they are about The Dogg and Gazza issues, useless awards and kwaito. Also that they should be more aware about reality and be open minded. – Ghetto Child Food for thought* HOW could Namibia afford to close the EU market by not signing the trade agreement? It seems the Government doesn’t realise the effect this silly decision is going to have on our economy and society in the long run. Please think independently and start making independent decisions as an independent country!* LAST week’s news and SMS responses make me wonder about our priorities. Namibian leaders snub the hundreds of thousands who have to deal with HIV by not pitching at World AIDS Day and no one cares! The Dogg makes some silly comment – a matter of national interest! Curious to see how many of us will have to suffer from continuing stigma and indifference on HIV and how many from swallowing blades.* I JUST watched a video of Gazza featuring The Dogg in the song ‘Tala tala’ on Channel O. I am a fan of both artists and for the sake of both your fans I urge you to unite. Give us one more collaboration, a song about peace. Tupac and Biggie did not have the time, Jay-z and Nas are good friends now collaborate please.* AS a concerned citizen, I have seen a number of local music videos shown on NBC’s Afro Connection containing violent scenes. For example, Afro Connection on December 7 2007 played a video by an artist named CB HOOD song title ‘Two Face’. This video showed a lone man in a street. He was then forced into the boot of a small, white car by four men and taken to a remote place in the bush. What if one day the above were to be done to a woman, teen girl or even a young child and he/she was to be found brutally raped or killed? I can understand artists need to make a living but life is precious and once lost, no amount of money can make up for it. To NBC and Afro Connection, make sure that all videos are carefully screened before being aired. Many people, especially teenagers, tend to imitate what they see on TV. Violence is already skyrocketing in our nation and we need people who will help decrease it and not promote it.Prison limbo* YOU mean we live in a country where 12 year-olds are sent to jail and not juvenile centres? Now we need those one-way tickets for ourselves and our children. One never knows when it’s your child’s turn.* WHAT kind of help is it to send a 12-year-old child to jail? Or must we talk about revenge? Corruption is still a daily business in this country, while children are suffering. In a society where children grow up without fathers, who will teach them what is right or wrong if the mother is also not able to support them? I am involved in a project for street kids. They are nice children but they are suffering. Namibia wake up and take care of your children. Politicians please do not always think about your pockets. Namibia is on the way to becoming a fatherless society.* THE nation is mute, shocked, puzzled and confused. The Government, the Prosecutor General and the judge are remarkable! Arresting and sentencing a minor without bail or option of alternative sentence, this means you groomed the best crook ever! Where is the human feeling, why has our country grown so cold nowadays? Before arresting the minor, they could have called in a social worker to handle the minor. The person who did this is supporting sort of violence against children. Is this minor not protected by our own Constitution? Where does this minor’s rights end, including the right to be legally represented in the court of law? You puzzled me, come out be man enough and apologise to Namibians and parents or guardians for this minor!From the regions* IS it really impossible to resolve the Ukwangali and Ndonga-Kwanyama grazing issue without going to court? Our cattle are dying. How can we be strangers in our own country? Is this one Namibia one nation?* I UNDERSTAND that hardware suppliers at Rehoboth increased the prices of building material because of the high demand caused by the Build Together Programme. Now participants discovered that they are unable to finish their houses, because the loan amount is insufficient. The Government should do something.* WHEN the Hardap Region elected Katrina as Governor, I thought that development, poverty reduction, etc will visibly be attended to, but instead her priorities seem to be curtains and headbutting.* WE the Ombalantu residents call on the Ministry of Education to provide us with a Namcol centre for Grade 12. We travel long distances to Uutapi. – Penango* I AM a farmer in the Khorixas district and am very concerned about the livestock that are stolen every day. My suggestion is to transfer the Police officers currently stationed in the area and replace them with new officers. It would seem that these officers are in cahoots with cattle rustlers in the area or they are simply incompetent to hunt the criminals down.* ALL I want to know from the municipality of Omaruru is how they could give us the Build Together forms to apply while there are no erven to build on.* WE are living along Omatako water canal, but are in dire need of water for last two months. This is happening while the Kombat mine is pumping water to waste south of mine. Can Dr Shivute please respond.* THE Government has ordered NamWater to open all closed water taps and to decrease water fees, but here at Onambedi village in Etayi, every month we pay about N$24. We’re suffering here. – Fritz Tuyoleni* IN Katima whenever the rain falls, electricity goes off. It’s frustrating. Can anyone from the town council explain to us what exactly leads to the tripping?* NABTA, why are long distance bus charges from Windhoek to Rundu (700 km) higher than Windhoek/Oshakati which is 708 km?Education* WE, the relief teachers of Erongo are treated by the Ministry of Education like slaves after tireless efforts to assist the learners. They decided that we are not entitled to get full salaries whiles we worked until the last school day, as permanent staff and our cheques were withdrawn to subtract the days from December 8-31. Really it’s not our fault that the schools closed on December 7 and we are not even getting any benefit as relief teachers, yet they cut our Christmas money.* MINISTRY of Education, please explain why someone who was medically boarded and feels better can’t be reinstated. If possible, which procedures need to be followed?On the ball* IT is good that MTC is supporting the Brave Warriors. We want to see them in Ghana 2008 with at least nice, and more than one outfit and a huge number of accompanying supporters. We want to hear that this money is used in the interest of Brave Warriors. – Silas Nande, Eenhana* CONGRATULATIONS to Lazarus Kaimbi for being the top goal scorer in the under-20 tournament. We are proud of you. You are surely a future Brave Warrior. All the best for the future.- Mara* IN response to an SMS writer about our team going to Germany for a training camp. Is he/she aware that most of the African teams (Cameroon, Nigeria, Zambia, Angola etc) will be camping in Europe for the same tournament? In fact they’ve been doing this for years and that’s why they’ve successful. Now the NFA is trying to do the same and it’s a problem to our people. Don’t we want our team to be successful? Let’s read more about the game and stop making uninformed comments.* I STILL really don’t see a need for the Brave Warriors to fly all the way to Germany for a training camp, while the games are played in Africa. Why not West Africa? Can NFA give us an explanation about this move. Those are blunders only made by South Africa. They will play countries like Italy, USA just to prepare for Cosafa and they have got money. I have never heard of Egypt camping in Europe for a tournament held in Africa. As for Namibia it’s totally bizarre. – Hermann Ucham.Food for thought * HOW could Namibia afford to close the EU market by not signing the trade agreement? It seems the Government doesn’t realise the effect this silly decision is going to have on our economy and society in the long run. Please think independently and start making independent decisions as an independent country! * LAST week’s news and SMS responses make me wonder about our priorities. Namibian leaders snub the hundreds of thousands who have to deal with HIV by not pitching at World AIDS Day and no one cares! The Dogg makes some silly comment – a matter of national interest! Curious to see how many of us will have to suffer from continuing stigma and indifference on HIV and how many from swallowing blades.* I JUST watched a video of Gazza featuring The Dogg in the song ‘Tala tala’ on Channel O. I am a fan of both artists and for the sake of both your fans I urge you to unite. Give us one more collaboration, a song about peace. Tupac and Biggie did not have the time, Jay-z and Nas are good friends now collaborate please.* AS a concerned citizen, I have seen a number of local music videos shown on NBC’s Afro Connection containing violent scenes. For example, Afro Connection on December 7 2007 played a video by an artist named CB HOOD song title ‘Two Face’. This video showed a lone man in a street. He was then forced into the boot of a small, white car by four men and taken to a remote place in the bush. What if one day the above were to be done to a woman, teen girl or even a young child and he/she was to be found brutally raped or killed? I can understand artists need to make a living but life is precious and once lost, no amount of money can make up for it. To NBC and Afro Connection, make sure that all videos are carefully screened before being aired. Many people, especially teenagers, tend to imitate what they see on TV. Violence is already skyrocketing in our nation and we need people who will help decrease it and not promote it.Prison limbo * YOU mean we live in a country where 12 year-olds are sent to jail and not juvenile centres? Now we need those one-way tickets for ourselves and our children. One never knows when it’s your child’s turn.* WHAT kind of help is it to send a 12-year-old child to jail? Or must we talk about revenge? Corruption is still a daily business in this country, while children are suffering. In a society where children grow up without fathers, who will teach them what is right or wrong if the mother is also not able to support them? I am involved in a project for street kids. They are nice children but they are suffering. Namibia wake up and take care of your children. Politicians please do not always think about your pockets. Namibia is on the way to becoming a fatherless society.* THE nation is mute, shocked, puzzled and confused. The Government, the Prosecutor General and the judge are remarkable! Arresting and sentencing a minor without bail or option of alternative sentence, this means you groomed the best crook ever! Where is the human feeling, why has our country grown so cold nowadays? Before arresting the minor, they could have called in a social worker to handle the minor. The person who did this is supporting sort of violence against children. Is this minor not protected by our own Constitution? Where does this minor’s rights end, including the right to be legally represented in the court of law? You puzzled me, come out be man enough and apologise to Namibians and parents or guardians for this minor! From the regions * IS it really impossible to resolve the Ukwangali and Ndonga-Kwanyama grazing issue without going to court? Our cattle are dying. How can we be strangers in our own country? Is this one Namibia one nation? * I UNDERSTAND that hardware suppliers at Rehoboth increased the prices of building material because of the high demand caused by the Build Together Programme. Now participants discovered that they are unable to finish their houses, because the loan amount is insufficient. The Government should do something.* WHEN the Hardap Region elected Katrina as Governor, I thought that development, poverty reduction, etc will visibly be attended to, but instead her priorities seem to be curtains and headbutting.* WE the Ombalantu residents call on the Ministry of Education to provide us with a Namcol centre for Grade 12. We travel long distances to Uutapi. – Penango * I AM a farmer in the Khorixas district and am very concerned about the livestock that are stolen every day. My suggestion is to transfer the Police officers currently stationed in the area and replace them with new officers. It would seem that these officers are in cahoots with cattle rustlers in the area or they are simply incompetent to hunt the criminals down.* ALL I want to know from the municipality of Omaruru is how they could give us the Build Together forms to apply while there are no erven to build on.* WE are living along Omatako water canal, but are in dire need of water for last two months. This is happening while the Kombat mine is pumping water to waste south of mine. Can Dr Shivute please respond.* THE Government has ordered NamWater to open all closed water taps and to decrease water fees, but here at Onambedi village in Etayi, every month we pay about N$24. We’re suffering here. – Fritz Tuyoleni * IN Katima whenever the rain falls, electricity goes off. It’s frustrating. Can anyone from the town council explain to us what exactly leads to the tripping? * NABTA, why are long distance bus charges from Windhoek to Rundu (700 km) higher than Windhoek/Oshakati which is 708 km? Education * WE, the relief teachers of Erongo are treated by the Ministry of Education like slaves after tireless efforts to assist the learners. They decided that we are not entitled to get full salaries whiles we worked until the last school day, as permanent staff and our cheques were withdrawn to subtract the days from December 8-31. Really it’s not our fault that the schools closed on December 7 and we are not even getting any benefit as relief teachers, yet they cut our Christmas money.* MINISTRY of Education, please explain why someone who was medically boarded and feels better can’t be reinstated. If possible, which procedures need to be followed? On the ball * IT is good that MTC is supporting the Brave Warriors. We want to see them in Ghana 2008 with at least nice, and more than one outfit and a huge number of accompanying supporters. We want to hear that this money is used in the interest of Brave Warriors. – Silas Nande, Eenhana * CONGRATULATIONS to Lazarus Kaimbi for being the top goal scorer in the under-20 tournament. We are proud of you. You are surely a future Brave Warrior. All the best for the future.- Mara * IN response to an SMS writer about our team going to Germany for a training camp. Is he/she aware that most of the African teams (Cameroon, Nigeria, Zambia, Angola etc) will be camping in Europe for the same tournament? In fact they’ve been doing this for years and that’s why they’ve successful. Now the NFA is trying to do the same and it’s a problem to our people. Don’t we want our team to be successful? Let’s read more about the game and stop making uninformed comments.* I STILL really don’t see a need for the Brave Warriors to fly all the way to Germany for a training camp, while the games are played in Africa. Why not West Africa? Can NFA give us an explanation about this move. Those are blunders only made by South Africa. They will play countries like Italy, USA just to prepare for Cosafa and they have got money. I have never heard of Egypt camping in Europe for a tournament held in Africa. As for Namibia it’s totally bizarre. – Hermann Ucham.