We Want A Say In Who Eats At Our Table

Open letter to President Hifikepunye Pohamba GIVING money to projects is one thing, but giving it while your own people are starving to death is another matter, not only bizarre but insane.

And someone who thinks sensibly will agree that this deal appears extremely shady. What did Zimbabwe (President Robert Mugabe) do for her people who are “refugees” in Namibia? What is the worth of independence so richly acclaimed if you are lost, disorientated and have no future? Absolutely nothing, I am sure.This is the kind of lost loyalty that has made us Africans look like amateurs.It is common knowledge that the Zimbabwean street vendors are highly educated people – now you want to tell me they all wanted to move to Namibia because we have a sea? No, evidently there is something wrong, and that something wrong is the government mentality, which is not only highly contagious but very dangerous for a developing country such as Namibia.We have great respect and admiration for our President Pohamba, but as a nation we feel we should have been taken into consideration when it came to having President of Zimbabwe at our table.We feel deeply neglected concerning serious matters and insulted as the people you are leading.This is one of the little things that create turmoil.How will we stand together to fight poverty and HIV, if we cannot stand together when the nation feels uncomfortable? This is very scary, a man who single-handedly destroyed his country’s economy in a matter of months, made all his people physical and mental foreigners and handicapped his nation, is eating at our table.It makes us very sad and scares Namibians and anyone else in Namibia to death.The money that Namibia is giving away is a serious matter.At one point Namibia was a developing country that could use all the financial help we got, and then in a blink of an eye we are a developed country which uses money for already blacklisted people.Who are we fooling? No one, we are the only ones who will suffer.And right now we all feel helpless, disorientated and betrayed.Jemima Beukes WindhoekWhat did Zimbabwe (President Robert Mugabe) do for her people who are “refugees” in Namibia? What is the worth of independence so richly acclaimed if you are lost, disorientated and have no future? Absolutely nothing, I am sure.This is the kind of lost loyalty that has made us Africans look like amateurs.It is common knowledge that the Zimbabwean street vendors are highly educated people – now you want to tell me they all wanted to move to Namibia because we have a sea? No, evidently there is something wrong, and that something wrong is the government mentality, which is not only highly contagious but very dangerous for a developing country such as Namibia.We have great respect and admiration for our President Pohamba, but as a nation we feel we should have been taken into consideration when it came to having President of Zimbabwe at our table.We feel deeply neglected concerning serious matters and insulted as the people you are leading.This is one of the little things that create turmoil.How will we stand together to fight poverty and HIV, if we cannot stand together when the nation feels uncomfortable? This is very scary, a man who single-handedly destroyed his country’s economy in a matter of months, made all his people physical and mental foreigners and handicapped his nation, is eating at our table.It makes us very sad and scares Namibians and anyone else in Namibia to death.The money that Namibia is giving away is a serious matter.At one point Namibia was a developing country that could use all the financial help we got, and then in a blink of an eye we are a developed country which uses money for already blacklisted people.Who are we fooling? No one, we are the only ones who will suffer.And right now we all feel helpless, disorientated and betrayed.Jemima Beukes Windhoek