Editorial

It is quite embarrassing to read about the ongoing infighting rocking the Ovaherero Traditional Authority and whose senior leaders are embroiled in a chieftaincy row. 

The whole brouhaha around the recruitment of 1 500 cadets for the Namibia Defence Force again reminded us of the destructive power of the keyboard activists who would not last a day as a soldier.

The layers of dysfunction that led to the arrest of Windhoek mayor Sade Gawanas on Monday in Windhoek’s Okahandja Park and the fallout from the incident leaves no doubt that the Namibian Police need to seriously pull up their socks.

A very important moment unfolded in the National Assembly this week when parliamentarians finally passed the long-awaited Access to Information Bill, a critical piece of legislation that will in future enable citizens to not only exercise their voice but effectively monitor and hold the government to account. 

Namibians, especially workers, are going through extreme headwinds right now with food, fuel, credit and almost everything else having been the most expensive they’ve ever been.

The opportunities that technological advancements could bring should make us all excited, but we should realise this is an opportunity to level the playing field as access to technology and its benefits is hugely skewed in favour of urban dwellers.

In Namibia, decentralisation is a constitutional requirement; therefore, it is the government’s mandate to work towards decentralisation. 

Very unfortunate events unfolded at the Gam settlement in the Otjozondjupa region last week when locals clashed with shop owners and other businesspeople in what has been attributed to tribalism. 

A considerable number of government projects – mostly worth millions of dollars - are lying idle, either abandoned by contractors or simply struggling to take off. 

Namibians are bored and frustrated by the never-ending circus of court cases, legal letters, accusations which eventually crippled football in the last four years.