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Literacy sets you free

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Literacy sets you freeLiteracy sets you free 0 Petrus Hanghome shares his ordeal as to how literacy classes changed his life.
Hanghome was speaking at the Oshana Annual Regional Literacy Day celebration which took place at the Uukwangula Traditional Authority Hall.
The event is hosted under the theme “Promotion of Information Communication Technology in delivering literacy and lifelong learning for sustainable development.”
“As I attended the literacy classes I learned how many continents there are on Earth, how many countries there are in SADC and also about land ownership,” Hanghome said.
He said in 1993, while busy assisting his mother to reconstruct their house at Ohakweenyanga village, a radio announcement informing illiterate adults to enrol for adult literacy grabbed his attention and this where it all began.
Hanghome said he was still far from being released from his obligation of assisting his mother, anwd the message that was announced, stuck in his memory and days later he went to the Oshakati Primary School where he enrolled for the literacy classes.
“I am an example of the successes of adult literacy,” Hanghome said.
“When you see me around talking and reading in English, it all started with literacy classes,” he added.
Hanghome urges fellow adults who do not attend literacy classes yet to do so, as it will help them enormously.
Oshana Education Director, Hileni Amukana says literacy and lifelong learning strategies must recognise all the different environments where learning takes place.
Amukana said in Oshana Region, a total of 550 adults enrolled for the National Literacy Programme in Namibia (NLPN) in 2016, of which 122 are male and 428 are female.
“ICT brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning,” she said.
Talking about the challenges when it comes to literacy in Namibia, she said some adults are not taking the classes seriously and that it is mostly the men that are not attending classes and that the promoters are also resigning for greener pastures.
KENYA KAMBOWE

NUST students urged to attend Science Festival

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NUST students urged to attend Science FestivalNUST students urged to attend Science Festival 0 Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Goabeb Research and Training Centre (GRTC), is taking part in the National Science, Technology and Innovation Festival this week.
The event is being hosted by the National Commission for Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) as part of Science month that kicked off on the first of September. From the 12th to the 16th of September students will be exposed to a plethora of career paths in the science field. Along with easy-to-understand videos, interactive talks, games and workshops, the NUST, NASA and GRTC team are hoping to captivate the imaginations and interest of young school learners.
As part of their presentation, NASA will also be talking about one of their collaboration projects with NUST and the GRTC, the NASA Observations of Aerosols above Clouds and their IntEractionS (ORACLES) currently taking place in Walvis Bay for the duration of September.
The delegation is accompanied by eight students from NUST, the University of Namibia and South Africa’s North-West University. The project will observe and measure the way African Bio-Burning Mass aerosols – smoke caused by central African fires and blown west ward during the spring season, interacts with the permanent subtropical stratocumulus cloud deck (one of three in the world), based off the coast of Walvis Bay. The data will enable scientists to analyse whether the cloud contributes to the cooling or heating of the atmosphere within the Southern African region.
The data will be collected with the use of two planes: the ER-2 aircraft that will be flying above 99% of the earth’s atmosphere and the P-3 aircraft that will be collecting data in and around the cloud deck. Highlighting the importance of exposing as many students to this and future projects, Professor Nnenesi Kgabi from the NUST Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering said “We want the schools in the North to know that such projects are not limited to [selected] schools, in this case [the schools] in Walvis Bay, this is a project for everyone.”
A projected lecture on day one by the NASA team members may take place at NUST for students and learners in the Khomas region at the end of September.
Kumbi Chitenderu

Help a dream come true

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Help a dream come trueHelp a dream come true 0 Many of the orphans at the school have not left Windhoek before


Teachers at Moses van der Byl are appealing to the public to assist them with financial donations for an excursion to take 60 Grade 7 students from disadvantaged backgrounds to Swakopmund for the weekend.
The aim of the excursion is for the students to learn more about Namibia. The teachers at Moses van der Byl Primary School have taken it upon themselves to create an opportunity to expose the many disadvantaged students at the school to other parts of Namibia by taking them on an excursion to Swakopmund, in the hope that they will experience Namibia in all its glory.
The trip is organised by several of the Grade 7 teachers at the school who felt that many of the children that are orphans, have never seen places like Swakopmund. This is mainly because their parents or guardians cannot afford to take them to such destinations, because of socio-economic circumstances.
“All these detrimental circumstances [have] resulted in poor background knowledge and lack of information in general [amongst the students],” reads a memo by the school regarding the trip.
The outing is scheduled for 16 to 18 September 2016 and the cost per child stands at N$ 600 for the weekend trip. The places that the students will visit include the Karakulia Leather Factory, the snake park, Kristall Galerie, Swakopmund Museum, the aquarium, and Dune 7 among others.
For donations the school can be contacted at 061-263012.
KEITH VRIES

Creating equitable solutions with Industrial Design

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Creating equitable solutions with Industrial DesignCreating equitable solutions with Industrial Design 0 Cover text:
Using industrial design to shape the future
Cover Summary
Omagano didn’t think that her master’s thesis was going to be turned into a book, but it happened. Now she is on her way to London to further her studies, and perfect her unique craft and perspective.


Stopping crime with design
As a product designer, Omagano is committed to finding solutions for Namibia and the continent thought the use of her knowledge in industrial design.
Omagano Adelina Kankondi is a young woman with an innovative approach to solving some of the societal ills that plague many African countries, like crime. She studied Industrial Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, gaining a BTech in Product Design, after obtaining a three-year diploma in 3D Design.
In her own words, Omagano describes herself as bubbly, humorous and opinionated character with slightly odd (according to her friends) personality, which she says also, translates into ‘slightly delightful.’
She grew up in Okahao, where after she moved to Oranjemund and ended up in Windhoek with her mother and stepdad and one of her sisters. She went to St. Pauls College in Windhoek and learned there that hard work pays off and says that “being self-sufficient when it comes to studies, helped me a lot in university especially during my first year.”
As a young woman, Omagano shares that she is deeply saddened that in 2016 a girl child must still miss school, because she and her parents cannot afford sanitary towels. “We have free condoms being handed out, but for something that we as females have no control over, we cannot get free sanitary pads handed out at schools?”
My friend Matuka Kayukwa and I have decided to design a range of reusable sanitary pads that we will manufacture here on the continent,” she shared.
She says that she doesn’t recall a single moment that made her take the path that she has in life, and says that she always wanted to design products and change lives and not just make things that looked fancy.
After that Omagano obtained a master’s degree in Design with particular focus on Socially Responsible Design. For her masters research, she looked into the issue of how design could help curb crime, with a paper titled: “Design against Crime: An exploration for opportunities for design: Innovations to reduce crime,” which was published last year in December.
After she finished her master’s degree, Omagano felt that she had not put her best foot forward, and was not happy with the depth to which her research had gone. To her surprise, she got a phone call from a company in Germany called Lap Lampert Academic Publishing, who mentioned that they had read her thesis abstract and thought that more people needed to see her Master’s thesis.
“It was probably the most amazing feeling out there. It was what I have heard people say is a God wink – I was blown away,” she recalled.
Omagano describes the process of actually having the book published as being “smooth and stress free.”
“I loved the research I was doing in my BTech, it was my first time investigating socially responsible design. I was looking at how design assists visually disabled people to have some privacy when using public bathrooms. The time I had for this research was a few months and I felt I wanted to delve deeper into the matter, so I decided to continue investigating socially responsible design” she says.
She also realised, that design could change lives and wanted to be part of bringing about that change, “For my masters, I looked at Design Against Crime and have always been fascinated by why and how people commit crimes and found that there was research being done across the world that I could plug into it.”
She says that during the early days of her Masters’, she struggled with time management because “You feel like you have all the time in the world to get things in order and the work ends up piling up.”
On top of that Omagano says that she had to learn to be assertive when doing interviews and conducting focus groups, because “I can really be shy sometimes,” she shares. “At one time I was spending a lot of time with ex-convicts and they can be intimidating at times. I learnt to be confident in my research as a result of this,” Omagano mentions.
During her time as a Masters student she started working in areas of product development and research. “I worked for the Cape Craft and Design Institute, assisting crafters and students with product development and introducing them to new technologies at the Fablab,” she says.
Omagano was also part of research that stretched across three countries, namely; Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa and which focused on automobiles and what types of automobiles would suit Africans living in different regions of the continent. She said that the research then informed concepts for new automobiles to be sold and produced on the continent and continues laughingly, that she now has knowledge of the random dimensions of car parts.
Although her schedule can sometimes be gruelling, Omagano says that she keeps a healthy work, study and life balance by reflecting on where it is that she can improve on herself and also her work. She says that striking a balance is hard sometimes, because she feels guilty for taking breaks, but says that she fundamentally understands that downtime is necessary for a healthy mind, body and soul.
Right now Omagano runs her recently established business called O.A.K Product Design which she “wants to grow here at home and work throughout southern Africa, by designing and changing lives as a result.”
“I realise in Namibia, that as creatives we have to be advocates for our fields, because not many people think beyond drawing when they think about design,” she observes. Omagano says that she would love to educate people more about the possibilities of design in communities and businesses.
In a few weeks Omagano is heading back to school, but she says this time it is business school. “I will be doing an M.Sc in Business Innovation with Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management at BirkBeck University in London.”
“This is all thanks to the British Council, as they have awarded me with a Chevening Scholarship,” she said excitedly. In the next ten years Omagano says that she wants to “be a champion for design in Africa and should be without a doubt, a trailblazer in my field.”
She says besides this, she would also like to be the president of the Council for the Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), a position that is currently held by her former supervisor Mugendi M’Rithaa.
Omagano finally shares with us that her inspiration for the work that she does has come from many people, with her family playing a key role in the process. She says, “There are so many people that I would love to mention, but the list is endless”.
Keith Vries

Column

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ColumnColumn 0 Sometimes before I sit down to write an opinion piece and I find myself worrying about what it is that I am going to be saying, scared that I might be misunderstood, or not understood at all. These insecurities usually come up when I have to say something about Namibia, and the way that we operate as a nation, taken that there are not enough Namibians, in my opinion, that are critical of the situations we find ourselves in.
Namibia is a very interesting country to live in, because it’s almost like this place is the grey area between life and death, health and complete paralysis, thirst and complete hydration. I find that I sometimes cannot place my emotions concerning Namibia and Namibians, because there is a tendency amongst Namibians to be one thing today and another tomorrow.
I have obviously had some issues with the way that young people are approached and handled as citizens in this country, alongside the plethora of issues that plague young women, old people, children and disadvantaged communities in and around Namibia.
There doesn’t seem to be a clear solution for anything that needs one, if we look to the way our political leaders address our concerns. I would have liked to think, firstly as a human being, and secondly as a Namibian, that asking for primary health care and housing would be something that should qualify as a reasonable request for a person to ask their government, which is also made up of formerly poor comrades, that should understand what it feels like not to have what you need to have; like freedom of movement without the redline or the dompass.
Yet, there is the sense that we don’t really know where Namibia is going. We hear catch phrases like ‘prosperity’ and ‘solidarity’ yet it is as clear as daylight in this Namibia that we all call our home, that it does not really belong to all of us. There are some Namibians that operate from a place of entitlement and others that just can’t give two flying fish about anything that happens here, even if those things affect themselves.
There is a reckless and lacklustre attitude that presides over all of us, from one corner of the country to the other. I don’t even need to make the analogy using our roads, because we are way past the point of trying to be cute about what is happening in this country.
The time is fast approaching where every Namibian would need to change his and her attitudes around how we interact with one another, and what the things are that we value in our communities and as a nation. From where I am standing, our peace is really the only thing that benefits us all, but from there we are divided into various ranks where our rights are rationed by people that never really had the nation’s best interests at heart in the first place.
It hurts to be Namibians that feel more and more detached from the agenda of the common people, every Namibian – seeing that we are headed in a position which juxtaposes nation building.
It’s tiring to have to go out and argue with every Namibian about everything, from a taxi driver to the lady at a till. It should be a more pleasant experience for us all to call ourselves Namibians and to live in Namibia. We don’t need to rape babies, have people living in deplorable circumstances and have our mothers and fathers die on the national roads in vain.
It’s is truly unacceptable, and at some point a person starts being conflicted about being patriotic and then has to seek for his/her own happiness wherever it may be found. And in retrospect, one wonders what those people who don’t have the luxury to leave are supposed to do? I guess we will have to wait and see.
Keith Vries

Seychelles opposition takes control of parliament for first time in 20 years

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Seychelles opposition takes control of parliament for first time in 20 yearsSeychelles opposition takes control of parliament for first time in 20 yearsAs both head of state and government, the president will now have to rule without a parliamentary majority. Party leaders have agreed on unity call 0 The Seychelles opposition on Sunday hailed its " historic" victory at parliamentary polls after gaining control of the Indian Ocean nation's parliament for the first time in more than two decades.
Before the result was announced, President James Michel pledged to work with the newly elected legislature, which had been expected to slip from his party's control.
" The results just announced by the electoral commission are historic for our country and I feel somewhat proud," said Roger Mancienne, head of the opposition coalition of the Seychellois Democratic Alliance (known by its Creole acronym LDS).
The LDS won 15 seats, with the Parti Lepep (meaning People's Party in the local Seychellois Creole language), which has been in power since 1977, taking the remaining 10.
In percentage points it was a slim victory, with 48.37% for the LDS and 48.01% for Lepep. This means each party will also be allocated four parliamentary seats under an additional proportional system.
The National Assembly has a maximum of 35 seats, 25 of them elected at the ballot box and the remainder attributed proportionally, with one seat for every 10% of the vote.
The main opposition Seychelles National Party (SNP) partnered with four smaller opposition parties -- together known as The Seychellois Alliance and made up of former leaders from the dominant Parti Lepep -- to strengthen its bid for power.
In a recent sign of growing opposition popularity, the SNP's leader Wavel Ramkalawan came a close second in presidential elections in December 2015, losing to the incumbent James Michel by just 193 votes.
It marked the first time a candidate from Lepep had been forced into a second round.
'Work for the common good'
" My hope is that this spirit of consultation continues in the new National Assembly, where we all work together for the common good of our nation," said Michel.
The results were announced in the early hours of Sunday morning, and just a few scattered groups of opposition supporters took to the streets of the capital Victoria to celebrate the victory, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
The vote in the tourism-dependent archipelago nation of 115 islands took place over three days, ending Saturday.
Voting began on the islands furthest away from the main island of Mahe, and its capital Victoria.
Mahe voted on Saturday, along with the two other main islands Praslin and La Digue. The three account for 98% of the Indian Ocean nation's 90,000 people.
Turnout was 87%.
The SNP, which had refused to take part in the 2011 elections claiming they would not be fair, won 11 of the opposition's 15 seats.
Lepep has maintained a majority in parliament since the return of multiparty politics in 1993.
There is little political difference between the two, but the Parti Lepep claimed to offer a guarantee of economic stability while the SNP argued the ruling party suffered from an erosion of power.
AFP

Clinton’s bout of pneumonia raises worries for Democrats

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Clinton’s bout of pneumonia raises worries for DemocratsClinton’s bout of pneumonia raises worries for Democrats 0

Democrat Hillary Clinton’s bout of pneumonia, kept secret until she nearly collapsed on Sunday, has raised an element of uncertainty about her health going into the final weeks of presidential campaigning and risks feeding a narrative from rival Donald Trump about her stamina.
The Clinton campaign was forced to admit on Sunday that the 68-year-old Democratic presidential nominee had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday after she complained of allergies and was seen coughing repeatedly in recent days.
The pneumonia disclosure was made public hours after her campaign said she had become “overheated” to explain why, knees buckling and unsteady, she was rushed from a ceremony marking the 11 September 2001, attacks in New York.
Democratic donor and fundraiser Bill Bartmann later fielded calls from about half a dozen Democrats worried about how the episode would look. The callers, he said, decided to wait and see how everything plays out.
For Democrats, the incident also brought up some familiar concerns about Clinton’s penchant for secrecy during an on-going debate about her use of a private email server while serving as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
“You’ve got Donald Trump promoting health conspiracy theories to begin with, so any time something even lends an air of credence to that conspiracy, it needs to be debunked right away,” Democratic strategist Bud Jackson said.
The issue also put pressure on both Clinton and Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, to reassure American voters about their health given the rigors of the presidential campaign, in which the food is often unhealthy, sleep is elusive and the packed schedule and extensive travel is stressful.
“The short term turbulence will be more about the handling of this than the substance, though I’m sure both candidates will be pressed for greater disclosure of health records,” said David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama.
Late on Sunday, her campaign cancelled Clinton’s trip to California scheduled for yesterday morning.
The health problem was the latest blow for Clinton at a time when Trump has erased most of her lead in national opinion polls and is competitive again in many battleground states where the 8 November election is likely to be decided.
Her dismissal of half of Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables” of racist, homophobic people on Friday triggered a firestorm of criticism and prompted her to roll back the comment.
During the Republican primary campaign Trump dispatched rival Jeb Bush by deriding him as a “low energy” candidate. His efforts to raise questions about Clinton’s stamina mirror that strategy.
Trump aides did not immediately respond to questions about whether Trump would seek to use the Clinton health incident to his advantage. Trump, normally voluble on Twitter, stayed silent on the issue on Sunday.
NAMPA/REUTERS

ANC SG to meet protesters

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ANC SG to meet protestersANC SG to meet protestersThe group was reacting to the ANC’s poor showing during the August 3 local government elections after party lost three of the country’s big metros and its support nationally declined. ANCYL to take disciplinary actions against guilty parties 0 ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe will today meet party members behind the Occupy Luthuli House protest.
ANC spokesperson Khusela Sangoni would not reveal any further details in her text message on yesterday.
Last week, a group of ANC members attempted to occupy the ANC’s headquarters in central Johannesburg to demand the resignation of President Jacob Zuma and his national executive committee.
Members of both the ANC Youth League and Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association intimidated and threatened them with violence, saying they were defending Luthuli House. A large number of police officers were present.
At the time, the ANC said the high security was due to a lack of knowledge of how much of a threat the protesters represented.
Mantashe received the group’s memorandum of demands. He thanked those who had turned up to defend the ANC’s headquarters and told them: “Don’t give hooligans free airtime.”
Meanwhile, the ANCYL said it was determining who was part of the occupy group, in order to initiate disciplinary proceedings against them. League president Collen Maine said he hoped they would get expelled. He said their actions were unacceptable.
“Their fate will be decided by a disciplinary process, but if it were me, I would have them expelled. Their behaviour is unacceptable,” Maine told News24 on the phone.
The group said it would accept whatever action the ANC took against them.
Another organiser, secretary Sasa Manganye of the Sefako Makgatho branch in the inner city, told News24 he knew nothing about pending charges.
“I am not aware of any action coming our way. We believe there’s nothing wrong with what we did, but if they come after us, we are ready and will deal with it,” he said.
Manganye said it would be stupid for the ANC to seek to charge them, rather than engaging with the group over its grievances.
He also said he did not fear the league’s president.
“Collen Maine is a nobody, not even a Youth League member.”
NEWS24

Shot of the day

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Shot of the dayShot of the day 0 ICONIC: Sisters of Charity arrive to attend the holy mass and Canonisation of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, on St. Peter square in the Vatican earlier this month. Photo: NAMPA/AFP

On-message with a mission

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On-message with a missionOn-message with a mission 0 There have been conflicting reports in recent weeks regarding pronouncements by government’s chief spokesperson and information minister Tjekero Tweya regarding media freedom.
Newspapers firstly quoted Tweya as saying that his ministry will drive an agenda to put in place a statutory body to “ensure that the media are held responsible and do not get away with murder”. He said this is “in the event [that] they [the media] abuse their power to write, report and broadcast and making themselves guilty of defamation and slander of people’s character in public”.
He, however, made a U-turn in a new statement wherein he lashed out at the media, claiming that he does not oppose media freedom and had only sent out a warning for journalists to maintain high standards. A day after his initial comment that suggested that government was to introduce a statutory body to control the media, presidential spokesperson Albertus Aochamub stated on social media that self-regulation of the media is fully supported in the context of the Code of Ethics for Namibian Journalists. Last week President Hage Geingob was also in total concurrence with the views shared by his spokesperson when he blasted his ministers, including Tweya, to be careful about what they say in the media.
In most cases communication to the media is not well coordinated with the spokespersons of ministries, accounting officers and political heads all giving different perspectives on certain matters.
Although government communication with the media has improved over the years, there is a need to ensure that leaders give messages that are relevant and credible at all times. Politicians should be on-message to ensure that their message – be it a government pronouncement – is delivered with consistency. It is really laughable and embarrassing for an information minister to be castigated in public for remarks made in the media.
A revamped strategic communication approach is necessary to ensure that government succeeds in the way it communicates its policy objectives, amongst others to the wider citizenry, through the media. A proactive approach is also an essential communication strategy for good governance.

Second Cassinga excursion planned

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Second Cassinga excursion plannedSecond Cassinga excursion plannedThe excursion to Cassinga and Vietnam is being funded by the participants themselves Organisers want it to become an annual trip 0 Cassinga attack survivors and mourners are invited to part take in the second excursion to the sites in southern Angola where hundreds of Namibian men, women and children were massacred by South African troops.
This year about 300 Cassinga survivors returned to the site for the first time since 4 May 1978 to commemorate Cassinga Day.
The chairperson of the Cassinga Survivors Committee, Ignatius Mwanyekange, told Namibian Sun that the plan for a second excursion derived from several meetings held with members recently.
“We call on all Namibians to join us on the trip as no Namibian should feel left out,” he said.
Mwanyekange said the excursion to the sites will become an annual trip.
He said the reason why the planning is done about nine months before the event is because of the challenges experienced when arranging the first excursion.
Mwanyekange said there were people who complained that they had not been informed about the trip.
“This time around we want better planning and avoid last-minute arrangements and also to give the correct information to the Namibian and Angolan authorities to make the excursion possible again,” he said.
The excursion to Cassinga and Vietnam is being funded by the participants themselves and Mwanyekange said every participant will have to pay N$3 375 by the end of March 2017.
The amount only covers transport and food. Participants are required to take along their own tents.
He said the amount can be paid in monthly instalments of N$375 over a period of nine months and can be deposited into the committee’s bank account.
For more information on payment, Mwanyekange can be contacted on 081 256 9840.
Mwanyekange, on behalf of the Cassinga survivors, expressed condolences to the family of the late governor of Angola’s southern Cunene province, António Didalelwa, who died recently.
He said Didalelwa was one of the speakers at the commemoration of Cassinga Day this year.


KENYA KAMBOWE

Strike averted at EBH

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Strike averted at EBH Strike averted at EBH 0 EBH Namibia management met with the workers’ committee and discussed issues that led to an unarranged work stoppage at the company on Friday morning.
A member of the workers committee explained that the workers briefly stopped working to air grievances about a number of unresolved issues related to outstanding disciplinary cases, allegations of nepotism, unfair treatment and the abuse of company resources.
Some managers are apparently allowing newly appointed subcontractors to use company vehicles and equipment without permission.
The workers also allege that certain managers receive kickbacks for appointing selected subcontractors and they are unhappy that newly appointed subcontractors earn N$250 per hour while they started with a rate of N$35.
EBH issued a press release confirming that the workers engaged in an illegal work stoppage and indicated that the worker’s committee notified management of their desire to engage directly with Hannes Uys, the CEO of the company, on certain issues of concern in an email to him on 8 September.
They then proceeded with an illegal work stoppage on Friday morning. Management issued two notices calling on the workers to return to work and warning that they would not be paid.
It also requested that the workers’ committee engage in the appropriate forum later in the day with Uys in attendance.
Uys pointed out that since the workers embarked upon the work stoppage without following established channels as specified in a recognition agreement with the union, EBH could not engage with them.
The company concluded a stabilisation and retrenchment process at the end of July 2016, in order to ensure continued business sustainability in light of financial challenges brought along by continued low oil price.


OTIS FINCK

Demand for excellence

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Demand for excellence Demand for excellence 0 Renowned Nigerian scholar, Chinua Achebe had explained who is to be considered as Patriot, beyond the narratives of politicians, as follows: “[a patriot is] one who cares deeply about the happiness and well-being of his country and all its people. Patriotism is an emotion of love directed by a critical intelligence. A true patriot will always demand the highest standards of his country and accept nothing but the best for and from his people. He will be outspoken in condemnation of their short-comings without giving way to superiority, despair or cynicism.” Inna and Joseph are demanding excellence not only at their institution of higher learning, the university of Namibia, but also at various level including national and regional leadership.

A week of productivity or neglected work

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 A week of productivity or neglected work A week of productivity or neglected work 0
By: Inna Hengari


Recently, in August, the University of Namibia had its week-long recess or ‘break’ as many may call it. While some students were thinking on and making plans to go home or travel for the short break, others were on a serious ‘grind’ trying to get that book that the lecturer had requested to be read, perhaps for a test or an assignment right after the recess.


University life is one of a kind, a combination of weird and strange personalities. As a student one is faced with many obstacles to overcome, academically and socially. On the academic part for instance, not only in Namibia I reckon, issues like shortage of staff (at University level), uncommitted lecturers who only show up for class lessons when they feel the need to as well as short and unproductive class lessons, these are just some of the many challenges faced at tertiary level.


It is of vital importance that one understands the role that each ‘body’ (students, lecturers and the university management) plays in a tertiary setting. It is a three-way relationship really, where the University staff has an ethical responsibility to protect and represent the interests of the student, in doing so, the student also has a responsibility and duty of attending his/her classes, consistently partaking in class discussions and doing whatever work is required of him/her by the respective lecturer and rules of the respective University, the lecturer, to ‘bring to life’ the various policies by the University into the work-setting or in the lecture hall.


In addition, when and if the above is not carried out effectively, it often results in laying of burden on either one of the bodies. It should also be duly noted that any tertiary unit or organization has a policy in which it recognizes the students’ freedom of expression of complaints and that all students are to express these concerns/complaints without fear of intimidation, whether it be about a lecturer who is always late for class lessons, fellow students who seem at times to be ‘enemies of progress’ or perhaps the most annoying; ‘no course outline no notes’ scenario.


However, in cases especially where students share constant complaints about a certain school within the university and/or its poor management, the respective staff in most occasions take offence and find it outright disrespectful that the student should express such views or opinions openly. But, what one should know is that, the more complaints from different parties or persons about how things are done in a certain school or faculty, the more effort one should put-in towards improving the manner and method in which certain things are done.


Sometimes we are quick to judge and criticize how specific state affairs are run and how certain economic and political issues in the country are being handled, or about others’ work, but, we barely look at our own work, to pour scorn on and see how we can plan certain things differently to produce different results – to avoid recurring issues.


It is, simply put “insanity” to be doing something in the same way over and over again and then to expect different results. It is my personal wish and hope that one day we can all come to understand that a Tertiary institution cannot properly function, unless we all in a tertiary institution acknowledge the fact that we’re not each other’s’ enemies but we are ‘units’ expected to carry out our respective functions correctly which should at the end of the day, positively complement each other – towards better performance and a ‘happy’ educative environment. It is then safe to ask, what have you done in this past week? Has it been productive? Or, have you failed to plan once more, because “failure to plan is planning to fail”.


*Inna Hengari is second year student studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management (Honours) at the University of Namibia.






The Regional Council act amendment: For the Public or the President?

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The Regional Council act amendment: For the Public or the President?The Regional Council act amendment: For the Public or the President? 0 By: Joseph Tobias
Last year the Regional Councils Act was amended to pave the way for the direct appointment of governors by the President. It’s not entirely evident who this amendment would benefit. On the one hand the president would have the privilege of appointing whoever he wants, whenever he wants. Favoritism is likely to be on the high here, most of the governors appointed hardly have the experience of working with people or serving the public. When you are familiar with the President, or you are a war veteran, a member of the Swapo Party and but may not be knowledge or have experience of the job. You may be fortunate enough to receive a call from the highest office in the land and be appointed to the job of serving the president and being eyes and ears of the president at a local level. Looking at this amendment, there is little consideration of the public or the communities and regions to which these governors are accountable for, or even a confusion of who they serve or be accountable to. In this whole amendment, the public are shockingly the smallest beneficiary of the changes.
The latest case of Festus Ueitele’s audio of negative tribal undertones which resulted in a community protest, highlighted the case of the officials being not only inconsiderate of the public’s culture or belonging but also the insensitivity and ignorance of the community’s feelings that will be hurt from hearing these negative narratives. It also highlighted the fact that not all governors have the experience of dealing with the people or like working with civilians and surely not all of them are happy to be governing their respective regions. It’s also not automatic that the governors will like the people they are to serve, even if public servants are required by the law to like everyone. It’s not guaranteed that they will, even if they might not show it as the law wouldn’t let them.
The president is able to appoint any politician to serve as a governor of any region, without considering how familiar he or she is with the people and the whole community of such a region. The public elect the president, the public also elect its councilors and it’s only the middle men between the president and councilors that is not elected by the people, the governors. We are in a democratic country, in the process of decentralization, the appointment of governors by the president is undemocratic and it takes away both the democratic right of the people to elect their own public servants at the local government level, who they probably will be familiar with, with their behaviors, culture, traditions and ways of living then the one that the president will appoint for them. It also delays the process of decentralization which has made significant progress in recent years because the appointment of governors by his excellency is a centralized approach. The direct appointment of governors would also fuel conflict between the state and the community as the community may feel that leaders are imposed on them. People must be allowed to elect their leaders. Governors should come from the people themselves and shouldn’t be imposed on them.
This amendment has brought confusion among the communities; the governors have become more focused on pleasing the president and showing loyalty to him while forgetting that they are public servants as well as politicians just like councilors and therefore accountable to the people at grassroots level. It’s obvious who the governors would choose to be accountable and loyal to between the people and the president considering that the president is the one who bring them into office and therefore decides if they would have the same job after 3 or 5 years, which above all highlight the need for governors to be elected by the people. This amendment also gives the president the right to appoint special advisors to the respective governors who sits on very high salaries and several allowances of the tax payer’s money as reported by The Namibian, “The advisors will be at under-secretary level, just under deputy permanent secretaries. The salary package of an under-secretary is around N$330 000, excluding car and housing allowances, which are also said to be substantial. Their monthly basic salary is around N$30 000. Just on their basic pay, excluding numerous other benefits, the 13 advisors will cost the taxpayer N$51, 4 million a year”. Why are the advisors not being used as middlemen by the president to be his representatives, eyes and ears of the president at the local level, in this case he can be allowed and be free to appoint anyone he wants, who will be under his control and be accountable to him and not being responsible for the public.
There is no doubt that some current governors like Comrade Usko Nghaamwa have truly executed their duties and responsibilities beyond the call of duty and they deserve their places in officer for multiple terms. However, the same cannot be said for all of our comrades. In some regions the achievement of some governors has only been controversy and political arrogance subtly endorsed from the top leadership of the Party, which is mostly due to their direct appointment from the top.
*Joseph Tobias is a fourth year studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management at the University of Namibia.

Astute 1

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Astute 1Astute 1 0 A week of productivity or neglected work
By: Inna Hengari


Recently, in August, the University of Namibia had its week-long recess or ‘break’ as many may call it. While some students were thinking about and making plans to go home or travel somewhere for the short break, others were on a serious ‘grind’ trying to get that book that the lecturer had requested to be read, perhaps for a test or an assignment right after the recess.


University life is one of a kind, a combination of weird and strange personalities. As a student one is faced with many obstacles to overcome, academically and socially. On the academic side for instance, not only in Namibia I reckon, issues like shortage of staff (at University level), uncommitted lecturers who only show up for class lectures when they feel the need to, as well as short and unproductive class lessons, these are just some of the many challenges faced at tertiary level.


It is of vital importance that one understands the role that each ‘body’ (students, lecturers and the university management) play in a tertiary education setting. It is a three-way relationship really, where the University staff has an ethical responsibility to protect and represent the interests of students, in doing so, the students also have a responsibility and duty to attend their classes, consistently partaking in class discussions and doing whatever work is required of them by the respective lecturers and the rules of the respective University and the lecturers, who ‘bring to life’ the various policies of the University into the work-setting or in the lecture hall.


In addition, when and if the above is not carried out effectively, it often results in laying the burden on either one of these bodies. It should also be duly noted that any tertiary unit or organisation has a policy in which it recognises the students’ freedom of expression regarding complaints and that all students are able to express these concerns/complaints without fear of intimidation, whether it be about a lecturer who is always late for class lessons, fellow students who seem at times to be ‘enemies of progress’ or perhaps the most annoying; ‘no course outline, no notes scenario.


However, in cases especially where students share constant complaints about a certain schools within the university and/or its poor management, the respective staff members in most cases take offence and find it outright disrespectful that the student should express such views or opinions openly. But, what one should know is that, the more complaints from different parties or persons about how things are done in a certain school or faculty, the more effort one should put towards improving the manner and method in which certain things are done.


Sometimes we are quick to judge and criticise how specific state affairs are run and how certain economic and political issues in the country are being handled, or about others’ work, but, we barely look at our own work, to pour scorn on and see how we can plan certain things differently to produce different results – to avoid recurring issues.


It is, simply put “insanity” to be doing something in the same way over and over again and then to expect different results. It is my personal wish and hope that one day we can all come to understand that a tertiary institution cannot function properly, unless all of us in the tertiary institution acknowledge the fact that we’re not each other’s enemies but we are ‘units’ expected to carry out our respective functions correctly which should at the end of the day, positively complement each other – towards better performance and a ‘happy’ educative environment. It is then safe to ask, what have you done in this past week? Has it been productive? Or, have you failed to plan once more, because “failure to plan is planning to fail”.


*Inna Hengari is second year student studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management (Honours) at the University of Namibia.


150 to forfeit Ondangwa plots

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150 to forfeit Ondangwa plots150 to forfeit Ondangwa plots 0

About 150 people, who had applied for residential plots at Ondangwa, are set to lose their allocated plots due to non-payment.
Most of those affected were allocated multiple plots, which they are now struggling to pay off.
They include businesspeople and some of Ondangwa political office bearers.
The town council had allocated over 200 plots between 2001 and 2015.
The forfeited plots will be offered to those on the waiting list, according to the town council’s chief executive officer, Ismael Namgongo.
He added that those who were allocated land were informed in writing that they had six months to pay the outstanding amounts.
Namgongo said Ondangwa’s housing backlog stands at 2 500 units in the formal areas and over 1 000 in the informal areas.
The town council is planning to reallocate all the unpaid plots to reduce the housing need.
“The town council is spending a lot of money in an effort to service land and make it available, but those who are allocated land are failing to buy it. I am appealing to people that they must apply for land when they are ready to build and not to for the purpose of speculating with it.
“We want people who are allocated land to pay it off so that we can continue servicing land and make it available to others,” Namgongo said.
Those that have paid a deposit on their allocated plots will be refunded, Namgongo said.
“Land is not an investment which you acquire and wait for someone with money to come then you sell it,” he said.
Namgongo could not provide the total value of the plots, but he said they are worth millions.

ILENI NANDJATO

Tatoosh docks at Walvis

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Tatoosh docks at WalvisTatoosh docks at Walvis 0

Tatoosh, the super-yacht owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, one of the top 50 richest people in the world, arrived in Walvis Bay yesterday.
The boat docked in the port of Walvis Bay at 10:00 and is moored at Berth 8 where it will remain until its departure on Saturday at 12:00, according to information provided via Namport’s port log.
Marius Voigh from Ocean Liner Services, the shipping agent responsible for the vessel, confirmed that Tatoosh sailed from Rio da Janeiro in Brazil, where its owner might have attended the recent Olympic Games.
“I have not met Allen on board the vessel and cannot for sure say he is around. There is talk that he might be here on holiday and could visit Etosha as part of the excursion to Namibia.
“The fact that he chose our country shows that we are on the map and is a popular destination worldwide. It also means a lot for the port of Walvis Bay,” he said.
Forbes magazine estimated Allen’s wealth at $13.5 billion in March 2010 and was listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008.
He acquired Tatoosh in 2001 at a reported cost of $100 million, listed it for sale at €125 million with Fraser Yachts in May 2010 and subsequently withdrew the listing in 2014 after it failed to attract a buyer.
Tatoosh previously visited the port of Walvis Bay six years ago. The 303-foot (92m) super-yacht can accommodate 24 guests and 35 crew members. It has 12 double cabins consisting of an owner’s stateroom, nine guest staterooms and two staff cabins. It also has a cinema, swimming pool and two helicopter decks on board. It is 92.38 metres in length and equipped with two Deutz engines capable of producing a cruising speed of 15 knots.

OTIS FINCK

Patients camp outside hospital

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Patients camp outside hospitalPatients camp outside hospitalResidents of the northern border area say they are too ill to return home and prefer to camp at the nearest hospital in case they need urgent medical care. Nearest clinic 50km away 0 Lack of health facilities in the Omahenene area on the border with Angola has forced ailing residents to camp in Outapi near the district hospital while waiting to see a doctor.
Ageing pensioners are among those who are camping at the site and they are complaining of hunger as there is no one supplying them with food and their families cannot afford travelling about 60km every day to bringing them food.
According to those who were found by Namibian Sun at the campsite last week, their camp accommodates people with a variety of medical conditions who need medical attention, those who were discharged from the Outapi hospital or Oshakati Intermediate Hospital but they still don’t feel well, people from Omahenene who require follow-up appointments, and Angolans seeking medical care in Namibia.
They said there is no clinic at Omahenene. The nearest is the Oshifo clinic at Ruacana, about 50km away, but it does not operate after hours and it does not attend to serious medical conditions and emergencies.
“We opted to stay close by the hospital so that we can easily take our ailing people into the hospital immediately when they have a medical emergency. At Oshifo clinic they will only refer us to Outapi and sometimes there is no ambulance. Sometimes people from our area die at home or on the way to the hospital,” said Selma Shiko.
They said they need a health centre at Omahenene or Epalela where they can go for immediate medical care and emergencies.
Simon Uazamo, 76, said he has a leg problem and was discharged from Oshakati Intermediate Hospital last week Monday but is still not fully recovered.
He said he was not feeling fit enough to return to Omahenene, in case he gets ill again and requires immediate medical care.
He claimed that due to overcrowding in hospital wards, he was discharged from hospital on several occasions although he had not fully recovered, and it was a problem for his family problems to take him back to hospital when he got worse.
“We cannot afford going home with him like this, what if he starts complaining again and we don’t have transport to bring him here? At least we must camp here to be able to get him to the hospital on time every time he is not feeling well,” Uazamo’s guardian said.
Acting regional health director Esra Kavela said his office was unaware of such people or their complaints, but he confirmed that there are no health facilities in Omahenene.
He said if the people were really ill they would have been in hospital. “If those people were discharged from hospitals, but did not go home, maybe they are not Namibians and they are just looking for a place to stay, and that is why they are living under trees,” Kavela said.
ILENI NANDJATO

Teachers vote in Oshakati

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Teachers vote in OshakatiTeachers vote in Oshakati 0

Hundreds of teachers gathered at the Oshakati education circuit office yesterday to vote for or against a planned national strike.
The strike ballot started in Windhoek last Tuesday.
The planned strike is the result of a salary dispute between the government and the Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu).
Teachers are demanding an eight percent increase while the government offered five percent.
Teachers voting in Oshakati yesterday complained about queuing in the heat.
“At least they could have made provision for chairs. We cannot queue for hours like this in the sun,” one teacher remarked.
Another teacher said she couldn’t wait in line for hours and would rather return today.
There are six mobile and fixed polling stations in the Oshana Region. The strike ballot in that region ends today.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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