SMSes of the Day: Wednesday

* IT’S that time again when comrade eats comrade, defectors being accused of trying ‘to reverse the gains of our freedom’. Can President Pohamba release the findings of the commissions of inquiry, especially the ones on NDC and Social Security Commission, or is there fear of ‘reversing the gains of our freedom’ should they be released? As voters, we need the accusations cleared for us to make informed decisions.

* SOME teachers are just blaming Nantu because of their own failure. They want high salaries while they do not have qualifications. Teachers are paid in terms of their diplomas, degrees or the position they occupy, but not necessarily experience. Most unqualified teachers failed to upgrade themselves. The salaries they receive are very high compared to the pass rate in our schools. I think some teachers don’t deserve the salaries they get because they fail to deliver quality service. * IT is childish, yet amusing what’s going on in the highest and most honourable house to be in our country – Parliament. No respect, foolish attitude, no seriousness, no valuable discussions, blind loyalty, no democracy, no perspective and never accept or acknowledge a mistake. How on earth will ‘the Land of the Brave’ prosper when the National Assembly is the biggest circus? The MPs should be shown a video of the parliamentary year so they could see themselves from a distance.Food for thought* AFTER a great holiday in beautiful Namibia, we returned to Windhoek via the B1 from the North on November 26. At the roadblock, the Policeman accused us of crossing the stop line without his permission. It would have been a N$300 fine, or N$200 if we paid him directly! Later, we met other tourists who fell into that trap the same day. We hope the Namibian Government can remove these rotten apples from the basket! Good luck, great country with friendly people.* CUBANS deliver essential services, while Chinese take away jobs and open corner shops like mushrooms. Why can’t they follow the Cuban example?* NUJOMA’S name-calling and incitement against RDP leaders is dangerous. Does he understand the meaning of ‘enemy of the country?’ Please, please refrain from inflammatory speech that could have disastrous results.Politics in general* POLITICAL language is designed to make lies sound truthful… And to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind … George Orwell. – GPHK* I NOTICED with disgust how members of Swapo turned up in Government cars at the congress. This is corruption and they should be investigated by the ACC or is the corruption buster a puppet of the ruling party? Sometimes we do not even have Government cars to carry out our duties, yet officials can travel in cars to Swapo events. These corrupt practices should be stopped by Swapo.* I AM a RDP supporter and I want Mr HH to come up and say something about NDC, ODC, Pidico and others, about what happened to those projects, because people are talking too much about them.* WHETHER we like it or not, Swapo has turned into a real tribal organisation having become anti-Kwanyama. No wonder Nandi-Ndaitwah withdrew from the race of deputy secretary general. She is automatically labelled an RDP member by the Omusati clique. This is the naked truth about a party which has lost its vision.* FORMER president should stop telling the nation that this and that company failed because of certain individuals. As the custodian of the country at that time what did he do, did he call any one to book or is he branding them because RDP is giving them sleepless nights. What is the motive behind all this character assassination?From the regions* LET me congratulate the Office of the Prime Minister for approval and setting up a performance management system to monitor progress in local authorities. This is particularly important for the Tsumeb town council run by the leadership of the Swapo Youth League, who are involved in various malpractices such as abuse of power and interfering in the day to day administration of the CEO. Erastus Negonga please inform us if this allowed and if the mayor of the town can appoint himself as a PRO of the same municipality? Is this not a conflict of interest?* NSHR says Government opened water taps, especially in the Ohangwena Region few days before the launch of the RDP in order to discourage people to join. The very same NSHR also started to be vocal about water recently. They said water was free before Independence in Ohangwena Region only when rumours were circulating about that party. Were they then discrediting Government to gain popularity for the RDP? When Government acts after the nation complained then we must say the nation has won and the Government has answered to the nation’s need. This encourages the nation to have their say and complain more, because they will be heard. NSHR must not be bias. They represent all people irrespective of their political affiliation.* I DON’T wanna be rude or insult anyone, but the service at Home Affairs Ministry offices in Windhoek’s Northern Industrial Area sucks. They are slow, rude and just don’t have any qualities to work with the public. One more thing, I applied for a full birth certificate in June, but have so far not received any reply. I think they have no clue about what their job involves. The ministry should aim for efficiency, productivity and to satisfy the needs of society.Education* PUBLIC Relations Officer of Education, Toivo Mvula, your response on ‘free education’ was not satisfactory. Namibian Constitution, Article 20(2) says ‘Primary education shall be compulsory… primary education will be provided free of charge.’* WHY did the Ministry of Education decided to introduce the revised curriculum for Life Science Grades 8-10 without the prescribed textbooks for the curriculum? Is it now poor planning or what is really going on with the ministry? The Government and its office bearers seem to care less about national issues and care more about individual issue and self-enrichment. We want prescribed textbooks with the introduction of the curriculum. When learners fail in school, the problem is the teachers not teaching. – Imms, Ogongo.* HOW does Unam define capacity building? I am not xenophobic, but I am concerned that come January 2008, all Unam centres and faculties will be headed by foreigners, a strategy put up by the Pro Vice Chancellor: Academic Affairs. We have qualified Namibians who are able to run faculties. Vice Chancellor wake up and stop selling your own nation out! – Miche* ADVISORY teachers, who mark external examinations after years of being divorced from teaching a particular subject are failing learners. They get the money and continue blaming teachers. Most of them failed to organise any workshops and are only interested in marking external exams for compensation. Something needs to be done urgently.* WHO on earth deceived the Namibian education diploma holders from Zimbabwean Colleges to think their diplomas are comparable to Unam degrees? I am a professionally qualified Biology teacher with a postgraduate diploma plus a BSc from Unam. Having worked really hard to achieve my credentials I feel insulted when my teaching qualifications are compared to those whose minimum entry is 16 points. I am not disputing the quality of education in Zimbabwe, but Namibian students did not go for secondary level. In fact some of those trying to elevate themselves have a string of Namcol certificates, and some have had to re-sit their papers before receiving those diplomas. No wonder our education system is not improving. If you are still hell bent on comparisons take your diploma to the NQA which has rated me Category E, with my Masters, of course – and see where they will place you. For all you know you do not even qualify to enter Unam!Prison break* PRISON break by the most vicious and determined suspects next to the B1 Butcher shows that the prison authorities are pathetically incompetent. Their gross dereliction of duty will, without doubt, endanger the safety of ordinary Namibians. It is this type of total incompetence that makes one think of emigrating. Does our Government even care?* ENOUGH is enough, in other countries if such incidents happen, the prisons chief or minister is sacked. We are too lenient in Namibia, hence no worry.* I DON’T understand how the suspected Zimbabwean Standard Bank armed robbers escaped from the Central Prison. Is our prison collapsing that we cannot guard it for 24 hours to prevent criminals escaping? How smart were these suspects that they even played the officers blind. This is a shame to the nation and the world.* HOW do the prisoners escape from custody? What exactly are the officers who are supposed to be guarding these facilities doing? The responsible ministry must give feedback on this issue. – Mbalili PTOn the ball* HOW can the City of Windhoek reject a proposal from Fifa to put an artificial pitch at the Sam Nujoma stadium? We want Germany to camp here for the 2010 World Cup.* CORRY Ihuhua, following your ‘Knives out for vulnerable Tigers’, I was expecting a headline like ‘Tigers upset champs’ after Civilians were defeated. Instead, you gave us only three sentences, all beginning with Civics, nothing about Tigers’ heroic effort. A fortnight or so ago, Tigers beat Stars and you dedicated the first 70% of the article talking about where Stars had gone wrong, instead of crediting the victors. Corry, please. – Otto Z* UNTIL when is the soccer national team going to have these unnecessary excuses such as we lost because they have experienced players. Football administrators must call up all foreign-based players, because we are drawn in a tough group. Come on guys, the opponents come prepared to win. Don’t think they will have mercy for you because you are inexperienced. Stop hiding behind these excuses and go out there expecting that the other team will be fully prepared.General* COULD the Minister of Fisheries and the Tender Board please explain the reason why only the fisheries research vessels are operated on a contract basis? Is one of the conditions put to tenderers not to provide benefits to its employees? Why does it seem that the tender document is only drawn up in such a way to favour tenderers? Please minister and Tender Board members re-evaluate your tender document when you put out a new tender. Remember that the employees also need to be appreciated, likewise they make success of all the surveys. Put yourself in our situation having to work without any benefits and especially considering our work environment, the sea. What will we take to families on retirement or leave behind when we die on work or become incapacitated? – Concerned employees* MENSAH-WILLIAMS, I would urge you to get your priorities right – medical aid for animals while the majority of the people who have made it possible for you to have a medical aid, which gives you access to private hospital facilities can’t even afford State hospitals. Look at the condition of pregnant women at Engela, Onandjokwe and Oshakati, or are your pets going to vote Swapo?* NAMIBIA’S economy will collapse like a deck of cards if the demands of the war vets are met, proper budgeting is needed. Don’t attempt what Zimbabwe did.* IT’S time for the Government to do away with the job levels, which is limiting our abilities and demoralising the civil servants. We want to apply for any position we qualify for within the Government. Let the lawmakers, unions and the Prime Minister look into this matter. This is a barrier contributing to people leaving for greener pastures and non-performance in the public service.* IT is childish, yet amusing what’s going on in the highest and most honourable house to be in our country – Parliament. No respect, foolish attitude, no seriousness, no valuable discussions, blind loyalty, no democracy, no perspective and never accept or acknowledge a mistake. How on earth will ‘the Land of the Brave’ prosper when the National Assembly is the biggest circus? The MPs should be shown a video of the parliamentary year so they could see themselves from a distance.Food for thought * AFTER a great holiday in beautiful Namibia, we returned to Windhoek via the B1 from the North on November 26. At the roadblock, the Policeman accused us of crossing the stop line without his permission. It would have been a N$300 fine, or N$200 if we paid him directly! Later, we met other tourists who fell into that trap the same day. We hope the Namibian Government can remove these rotten apples from the basket! Good luck, great country with friendly people.* CUBANS deliver essential services, while Chinese take away jobs and open corner shops like mushrooms. Why can’t they follow the Cuban example? * NUJOMA’S name-calling and incitement against RDP leaders is dangerous. Does he understand the meaning of ‘enemy of the country?’ Please, please refrain from inflammatory speech that could have disastrous results.Politics in general * POLITICAL language is designed to make lies sound truthful… And to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind … George Orwell. – GPHK * I NOTICED with disgust how members of Swapo turned up in Government cars at the congress. This is corruption and they should be investigated by the ACC or is the corruption buster a puppet of the ruling party? Sometimes we do not even have Government cars to carry out our duties, yet officials can travel in cars to Swapo events. These corrupt practices should be stopped by Swapo.* I AM a RDP supporter and I want Mr HH to come up and say something about NDC, ODC, Pidico and others, about what happened to those projects, because people are talking too much about them.* WHETHER we like it or not, Swapo has turned into a real tribal organisation having become anti-Kwanyama. No wonder Nandi-Ndaitwah withdrew from the race of deputy secretary general. She is automatically labelled an RDP member by the Omusati clique. This is the naked truth about a party which has lost its vision.* FORMER president should stop telling the nation that this and that company failed because of certain individuals. As the custodian of the country at that time what did he do, did he call any one to book or is he branding them because RDP is giving them sleepless nights. What is the motive behind all this character assassination? From the regions * LET me congratulate the Office of the Prime Minister for approval and setting up a performance management system to monitor progress in local authorities. This is particularly important for the Tsumeb town council run by the leadership of the Swapo Youth League, who are involved in various malpractices such as abuse of power and interfering in the day to day administration of the CEO. Erastus Negonga please inform us if this allowed and if the mayor of the town can appoint himself as a PRO of the same municipality? Is this not a conflict of interest? * NSHR says Government opened water taps, especially in the Ohangwena Region few days before the launch of the RDP in order to discourage people to join. The very same NSHR also started to be vocal about water recently. They said water was free before Independence in Ohangwena Region only when rumours were circulating about that party. Were they then discrediting Government to gain popularity for the RDP? When Government acts after the nation complained then we must say the nation has won and the Government has answered to the nation’s need. This encourages the nation to have their say and complain more, because they will be heard. NSHR must not be bias. They represent all people irrespective of their political affiliation.* I DON’T wanna be rude or insult anyone, but the service at Home Affairs Ministry offices in Windhoek’s Northern Industrial Area sucks. They are slow, rude and just don’t have any qualities to work with the public. One more thing, I applied for a full birth certificate in June, but have so far not received any reply. I think they have no clue about what their job involves. The ministry should aim for efficiency, productivity and to satisfy the needs of society.Education * PUBLIC Relations Officer of Education, Toivo Mvula, your response on ‘free education’ was not satisfactory. Namibian Constitution, Article 20(2) says ‘Primary education shall be compulsory… primary education will be provided free of charge.’ * WHY did the Ministry of Education decided to introduce the revised curriculum for Life Science Grades 8-10 without the prescribed textbooks for the curriculum? Is it now poor planning or what is really going on with the ministry? The Government and its office bearers seem to care less about national issues and care more about individual issue and self-enrichment. We want prescribed textbooks with the introduction of the curriculum. When learners fail in school, the problem is the teachers not teaching. – Imms, Ogongo.* HOW does Unam define capacity building? I am not xenophobic, but I am concerned that come January 2008, all Unam centres and faculties will be headed by foreigners, a strategy put up by the Pro Vice Chancellor: Academic Affairs. We have qualified Namibians who are able to run faculties. Vice Chancellor wake up and stop selling your own nation out! – Miche * ADVISORY teachers, who mark external examinations after years of being divorced from teaching a particular subject are failing learners. They get the money and continue blaming teachers. Most of them failed to organise any workshops and are only interested in marking external exams for compensation. Something needs to be done urgently.* WHO on earth deceived the Namibian education diploma holders from Zimbabwean Colleges to think their diplomas are comparable to Unam degrees? I am a professionally qualified Biology teacher with a postgraduate diploma plus a BSc from Unam. Having worked really hard to achieve my credentials I feel insulted when my teaching qualifications are compared to those whose minimum entry is 16 points. I am not disputing the quality of education in Zimbabwe, but Namibian students did not go for secondary level. In fact some of those trying to elevate themselves have a string of Namcol certificates, and some have had to re-sit their papers before receiving those diplomas. No wonder our education system is not improving. If you are still hell bent on comparisons take your diploma to the NQA which has rated me Category E, with my Masters, of course – and see where they will place you. For all you know you do not even qualify to enter Unam! Prison break * PRISON break by the most vicious and determined suspects next to the B1 Butcher shows that the prison authorities are pathetically incompetent. Their gross dereliction of duty will, without doubt, endanger the safety of ordinary Namibians. It is this type of total incompetence that makes one think of emigrating. Does our Government even care? * ENOUGH is enough, in other countries if such incidents happen, the prisons chief or minister is sacked. We are too lenient in Namibia, hence no worry.* I DON’T understand how the suspected Zimbabwean Standard Bank armed robbers escaped from the Central Prison. Is our prison collapsing that we cannot guard it for 24 hours to prevent criminals escaping? How smart were these suspects that they even played the officers blind. This is a shame to the nation and the world.* HOW do the prisoners escape from custody? What exactly are the officers who are supposed to be guarding these facilities doing? The responsible ministry must give feedback on this issue. – Mbalili PT On the ball * HOW can the City of Windhoek reject a proposal from Fifa to put an artificial pitch at the Sam Nujoma stadium? We want Germany to camp here for the 2010 World Cup.* CORRY Ihuhua, following your ‘Knives out for vulnerable Tigers’, I was expecting a headline like ‘Tigers upset champs’ after Civilians were defeated. Instead, you gave us only three sentences, all beginning with Civics, nothing about Tigers’ heroic effort. A fortnight or so ago, Tigers beat Stars and you dedicated the first 70% of the article talking about where Stars had gone wrong, instead of crediting the victors. Corry, please. – Otto Z * UNTIL when is the soccer national team going to have these unnecessary excuses such as we lost because they have experienced players. Football administrators must call up all foreign-based players, because we are drawn in a tough group. Come on guys, the opponents come prepared to win. Don’t think they will have mercy for you because you are inexperienced. Stop hiding behind these excuses and go out there expecting that the other team will be fully prepared.General * COULD the Minister of Fisheries and the Tender Board please explain the reason why only the fisheries research vessels are operated on a contract basis? Is one of the conditions put to tenderers not to provide benefits to its employees? Why does it seem that the tender document is only drawn up in such a way to favour tenderers? Please minister and Tender Board members re-evaluate your tender document when you put out a new tender. Remember that the employees also need to be appreciated, likewise they make success of all the surveys. Put yourself in our situation having to work without any benefits and especially considering our work environment, the sea. What will we take to families on retirement or leave behind when we die on work or become incapacitated? – Concerned employees * MENSAH-WILLIAMS, I would urge you to get your priorities right – medical aid for animals while the majority of the people who have made it possible for you to have a medical aid, which gives you access to private hospital facilities can’t even afford State hospitals. Look at the condition of pregnant women at Engela, Onandjokwe and Oshakati, or are your pets going to vote Swapo? * NAMIBIA’S economy will collapse like a deck of cards if the demands of the war vets are met, proper budgeting is needed. Don’t attempt what Zimbabwe did.* IT’S time for the Government to do away with the job levels, which is limiting our abilities and demoralising the civil servants. We want to apply for any position we qualify for within the Government. Let the lawmakers, unions and the Prime Minister look into this matter. This is a barrier contributing to people leaving for greener pastures and non-performance in the public service.