SIR, your clearly expressed view about the obvious inability of the town council of Karibib is fully shared by us.
The town’s well-being seems to be nothing to worry about – their self interest looks to be all the councillors are concerned with.
And the situation is not so very much different in other Namibian towns: some other towns had to experience something likewise or even worse.
New Era reported on it, as well as all the other newspapers and the NBC.
People know – all who don’t know seem to be the political parties – they think the ‘failures’ are ‘ keepers’!
Now, Swapo via Mr Theo Diergaard introduced a bill to lengthen the terms of office of mayors, vice-mayors and the heads of the management committees of all our towns.
The terms of office are too short for meaningful work and the remuneration is insufficient, so Mr Diergaard said.
He did not speak about or propose something to get rid of quickly and for good the useless ones on town councils: it all was the ‘pal speaking for the pal’.
Let us be honest: Every council and every citizen will be glad to keep the able mayors and other able councillors – their terms of office will be not a question at all if the inhabitants of their towns could elect them directly.
If mayors etc. are put in their place by political parties and not the citizens themselves and then they turn out to be flops like so many of them do, well, then they have to be ‘saved’ by an ‘ act of law’, which then in itself is, without any doubt, to be considered a flop, too.
So, it seems that ‘ pals’ are now wished to be kept on the ‘gravy train’ at the cost of the own people by other already ‘fat cats’.
This cannot be in the best interest of our nation.
This will ultimately destroy our nation, too: it destroyed many a nation already and we Namibians will only have to look around us to see it not so slowly happen at this very time, again and again.
The picture is clear and bleak, as clear and as bleak as our nation’s future will be if we are going to tolerate this new bill.
Die Vriendeskring in Hentiesbaai