WINDHOEK– With all the anti-corruption educational seminars that the Directorate of Public Education and Corruption Prevention held at schools and career fairs, specifically targeting the youth and school pupils, how much do the youth know about anti-corruption?
Junior Mayor of the City of Windhoek, Emma Theofelus, says corruption is the criminal illegal act of using public resources or doing an action at the nation’s expense for one’s personal gain, like bribery. “Yes, reports in the media and discussions among the citizens clearly stipulate that corruption is very much alive in the land of the brave,” she affirms the existence of the scourge in Namibia. “The Anti-corruption Commission of Namibia (ACC) has been in existence for a few years now and I would have expected a great difference by now. They are doing fine in fighting corruption and corruption is not necessarily growing either. I do hope that the ACC continues to make big progress.”
“I took it upon myself to learn all I can on corruption, its effects and also how I can fight against it. I also participated in a school debating competition against corruption a couple of years ago. As a young person, I need to further understand the implication of corruption and learn to fight it by reporting acts of corruption. I also need to create public discourse among my fellow youth and spread awareness on corruption.”
Shaandre Finnies Deputy Speaker of the 4th session of the Children’s Parliament of the Republic of Namibia says “corruption is ubiquitous and the leading government body responsible to combat corruption is not 100% effective in rewarding their directives because no matter how many resources given to them they can’t do it without whistle blowers.” He adds that the public could play a large role in the success of the ACC because they are supposed to help expose corruption but instead they protect the perpetrators who make themselves guilty of corruption.
The youth should become nationalistic towards anti-corruption measures in the country. They should create dialogue around the causes and solutions of corruption and influence their peers towards nation building and nationalism because if we can eradicate corruption than we cannot realise those two goals. “Once we have instilled the principles of nation building and nationalism in the youth we can only hope they will make a change in the future,” concludes Finnies.
By Sabina Elago