The City of Windhoek has painstakingly earned a reputation for being the cleanest city in Africa. I say painstakingly because keeping the capital city clean is no easy task. This is evident from the number of workers you see out on the streets everyday sweeping the roads and trimming the grass, bushes and trees.
Generally Windhoekers take pride in keeping their city clean but this is offset by the number of people who I see on a daily basis throwing garbage on sidewalks and out of moving vehicles, including private vehicles, taxis, government vehicles and vehicles belonging to private businesses.
Call me uptight or whatever but on numerous occasions I have telephoned businesses or government institutions with the registration numbers of vehicles from which rubbish is discarded onto our streets without regard to the effect it has on our city and its hard-earned reputation. The responses have mostly been positive with managers and owners pledging to take the matter up with the respective drivers or passengers as a matter of urgency.
Last week when on a road trip to the Otjozondjupa Region I drove behind a public minibus transporting people to some far off destination when I was shocked to see passengers discarding bags of rubbish on the B1 road between Okahandja and Otjiwarongo. As is usually the case the number of the owner was displayed on the back of the vehicle but when I telephoned him he rudely asked me: “Are you a traffic officer?” My response was that it is not only the police who should keep Namibia clean but it is our collective responsibility to keep the country clean. I told him to forget about keeping Namibia for tourists and visitors, we need to keep the country clean for ourselves and for the generations that will inherit it in years to come.
The reaction once again was not what I expected as he slammed the phone down in my ear. Oh well, I tried and hopefully one day he will make a conscious decision to address the matter with his staff. At least I brought the matter to his attention, which in all honesty is what I hoped to achieve.
Not too long ago the Founding Father, Dr Sam Nujoma, castigated the Okahandja Municipality for the littered state of the town. While this town was singled out on that fateful day, the issue of cleanliness is applicable to all towns in the country. While some are making all efforts to rid their town’s streets of garbage some are only making these efforts in high income neighbourhoods and in areas frequented by tourists. In my opinion we need a national campaign to educate all Namibians on the economic and health benefits in keeping all of our country clean, and not just certain parts of it. I also volunteer my time to government to act as a Garbage Monitor provided they give me the power to fine or even arrest those responsible for littering our beautiful country.