Thought Leaders

Google this year decided to forgo its annual tradition of elaborate pranks on April Fool’s Day. Instead, the company said it was taking the year off “out of respect for all those fighting the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The preference and glorification of English language usage in homes and schools keep rising in Namibia at the expense of local indigenous languages such as Oshiwambo, Thimbukushu, Otjiherero, Lozi and Damara/Nama.

Former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain this week encouraged players to retrain their minds as they adopt and adapt to Covid-19 measures.

The noble profession of journalism is under threat, as reporters continue to lose their jobs en masse. Many people who carved out professional careers in journalism have lost their means of survival and many more will follow.

George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, satirises the behaviour of pigs after chasing Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm.

When my mother insisted on buying a cellphone from my niece in 2014, I was silently wondering why she would need it.

Churches are and have always been the beacon of hope in all communities; they are the “salt of the earth” the vital role player within the fellowship of faith and most often in the larger societal wellbeing.

Some people in leadership and management positions in higher education institutions often grapple with what these two concepts and practices entail. Questions that often intrigue most leaders and managers are: “Is a leader necessarily a manager? Equally, is a manager also a leader?  Leadership and management as concepts of tertiary education management have succeeded in throwing some leaders and managers into sixes and sevens, with others realizing what the practices entail when their terms of office are drawing to the end, and others leaving their posts without any clue at all. 

Globalisation is the process of life that gives rise to the reality and tangibility of our relatedness and interrelatedness with all that exists. This reality of our relatedness is contradicted by contemporary world capitalisation that is perpetuating inequalities among nations. The problem is that postmodern empire and globalisation do not only mean interconnectedness of the world, but it simultaneously contributes to and expands neoliberal capitalism.

Finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi’s theme for Budget Day 2020, “together defeating Covid-19, together thriving again”, resonates beyond Namibia’s borders. 
It is a call, indeed, a prayer that informs and shapes the entire world as it charts new directions following a public health emergency. 
 The current health situation has led to a loss of normality in daily life.