OPUWO – Tribalism is one of the main factors that keep democracy and transformation of people’s lives at a slow pace and through its evils, development of economically prosperous societies is derailed.

These remarks were uttered by Kunene region governor Marius Sheya on Wednesday while delivering his third state of the region address (SORA) at Opuwo under the theme ‘United Kunene unlocking its potential for shared prosperity’.

During his address, Sheya highlighted the region’s challenges and accomplishments throughout the 2019/20 financial year. As per Article 110A (sub-article 5 and 6) of the Namibian Constitution, a SORA is delivered annually by governors, in which they reflect on projects and initiatives of the government at regional level, and the implementation status of national developmental programmes.

Sheya said there is no region called Kunene North or Kunene South as perceived by many via tribal lines.

“We live in Kunene region; this context of north and south is a tribal connotation being used by opportunists for personal gain when it suits them; hence, until it is declared as such by the Government of the Republic of Namibia, we only have one Kunene region,” said the governor.

He added: “That is why after my appointment as governor in 2018, I embarked on a journey of reconciling and reconstructing the social landscape of the region with the aim of building a society that reaffirms our common humanity and common nationality.”

Sheya also said challenges are not uncommon to the people of the Kunene region, noting that one thing they have learned from challenges is that it “either breaks us or forces us to go back to the original ground of our being”.

“Our actions must reflect our developmental ambitions; thus, it is imperative that every sphere of government takes steps to connect the dots that facilitate talent discovery, promote human capital development and create intra-governmental cooperation,” he said.

Sheya stressed the importance of partnership in development, asserting that the past two years and the remaining period of his administration depend largely on them creating transformation and enduring partnerships with the private sector.

In terms of development, Sheya noted that in the period under review, through the Drought Intervention Programme, the government successfully drilled 16 boreholes, installed 19 and rehabilitated 18 boreholes at an amount of N$21 million.

He expressed gratitude towards local authorities for the provision of services to the people. – Nampa