Dillish’s letter to the Windhoek mayor asking to be provided with a piece of land in the luxurious hills of Kleine Kuppe so that she can unite her family sparked so much outrage in the community and as usual our social networks were abuzz with condemnation, calls to protest, demands for the mayor to resign and much more. I have nothing against the beautiful and smart Ms Big Brother Africa 2013 turned business-madamu, because I feel she has as much a birthright to land as anyone else – maybe she just oordryfed a little bit with the request for land in such a prime area when her motivation sounded so genuine and humble. But then again they say, shoot for the moon and you may land among the stars.
As I was reading the comments, it was then that I realised that many of us actually sell ourselves short and don’t know that we are worth more.
We feel comfortable to outere sugar, bread, butter, SMS credit or beer without a shame, but come to the real nitty-gritty such as asking for a scholarship, a job or land; we feel too ashamed to ask. But when others try, we emerge out of nowhere with a suitcase full of complaints. I know this doesn’t pertain to some of you who are out there, filling in tender documents left and right without success, applying for jobs or making a turn at the NHE every now and then to see if at last they have approved your application for a house.
All I am saying is we should start valuing ourselves and our rights more.
Dillish’s case was only the tip of the iceberg, because the thorny subject of land has been biting us for a little too long and we ought to find a solution soonest. It’s not fair to deny people the one thing that is core to their very existence, which is residential land and shelter.
We can’t sweep this one under the carpet, because as long as there are people having sleepless nights, the issue will never resolve itself. We are not asking to get land for mahala, we just want to see that things are done fairly without favouring some people.
City of Windhoek, we are coming. We the landless who can only dream of ever owning property in this city will overwhelm your office with letters, because not only are we citizens, but we are also “special” in our own ways. As a matter of fact, we have already started drafting all the nice things we have done for others that make us special too.
Sorry Ngo!