The importance of elections cannot be doubted. At the very least, they provide the public with its clearest formal opportunity to influence the political process and also help, directly or indirectly, to determine who will hold government power. From this perspective, elections are about results – in other words, who wins and who loses. This...
Democratic governance is a system in which all sectors of society participate fully and share responsibility for the affairs of the state—that is, participation by all. It refers to a situation where both the rulers and the ruled take part in the decision-making process at all levels. During the pre-colonial period in Africa, there was...
The relevant Christian ministry is rooted in the church’s Kairos moment. Kairos signifies a sense of urgency, the crucial moment (Kittel 1968, 456). The Kairos moment mission, therefore, becomes the destiny that calls the church to decisive action in its salvific work. Through the church, “God issues a challenge to decisive action……. It is a...
Regarding a strongly felt organisational goal of public service, human capital development should be most evident at the local and regional levels of government, as these are the areas in society where people’s most basic needs should be addressed. High levels of underdeveloped communities, particularly in remote and rural areas, mean that there is often...
The teenage years are often described as a time of adolescent rebellion, marked by emotional turmoil, family conflict, alienation from adult society, reckless behaviour, and rejection of adult values. However, research on adolescents worldwide indicates that only about one in five teenagers exhibit these patterns (Offer & Schonert-Reichl, 1992). Most young people feel close to...
As we continue looking at Vision 2030 together, I want us to look at how we can address some of the divisions that baffle us at times. Somewhere, we have to remove the mask and accept that, as a society (nation), we are often guilty of the sin of racism. We prefer our ethnic groups...
In his classic book ‘Servant Leadership: Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness’, Robert K. Greenleaf suggests that the concept of the servant as leader emerged from reading Hermann Hesse’s ‘Journey to the East’. In that story, Leo accompanies a party on a journey as the servant who does their menial chores, and...
As we mourn and remember one of Africa’s greatest liberation icons – the likes of Sam Nujoma and Kenneth Kaunda – I vividly remember Tatekulu Nujoma’s visit to Lüderitz in 1998, when we celebrated the importance of children under the theme ‘Putting children first’. As senior youth officer in the then-Ministry of Youth and Sport,...
I recently attended a graduation ceremony, and as I sat in that jovial moment, observing and admiring the graduates, an important question dawned on me. A question that I believe haunts most graduates, specifically those who haven’t secured jobs. Where do we go after acquiring a qualification? Do we study further and keep collecting more...
In my last article on the family, I wrote about the protection and the joy children bring into our lives and the potential they have of deepening one’s relationship with the world. On the other hand, it has been said before, that “the way a society treats its children is a reflection of the dynamics...