Keetmanshoop
President Hage Geingob picked up from where he left off his town hall meetings, hosting the latest one at Keetmanshoop where residents had the opportunity to have a conversation with him and his delegation.
“You provide them with shelter, clothing, food and all basic amenities, yet they behave like the heads of households, doing as they please,” President Geingob said in reference to the current behaviour of some children.
This, the president said, is mostly due to parents’ failure to instil discipline in their own.
Geingob held the meeting on Thursday – and urged parents to take responsibility for their children’s actions.
Some members of the community at the meeting pointed out the mushrooming of shebeens in residential areas at the town as a big problem, especially for school children.
A concerned elderly person stressed that children of school-going age visit shebeens frequently because the bars are situated in residential areas and the loud music attracts them to those places.
“What is the government going to do on the issue of liquor licences for shebeens in residential areas?” she asked.
Another pensioner expressed concern over the elderly’s safety, saying that whenever they get their pension money the town is full of young people who end up taking their money.
She also raised concern about the slow reaction by the police when called to assist the community, especially when young people are intoxicated and cause trouble at home, saying they never pitch up as they see it as a simple family issue.
In response, Geingob said it’s clear that you can’t have a shebeen in a residential area, adding that the government is working hard to address the issue. He however pointed out that it’s not easy because shebeens are owned by fellow community members and they claim to maintain their families through such businesses.
He however questioned how children end up at shebeens, saying parents should also play their part.
“If the children are going there, where are the parents? What happened to parenthood?”
He said that parents are not doing what they are supposed to do to discipline their children and thus they end up the way they do, disrespecting elders and even robbing them.
“Who are these children that come and rob elders of their meagre pension? It’s our children,” he said, adding that it’s again the failure of parents that their children have turned into robbers. Many other concerns and questions surrounding education, health, electricity and resettlement farms were raised and it ended with people still wanting to engage the president some more but time would not permit.
The head of state then visited the Neckartal Dam and the mass housing project at the town before proceeding to Mariental, where he had a similar meeting on Friday.
He was accompanied by Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry John Mutorwa, Minister of Mines and Energy Obed Kandjoze, Minister of Basic Education, Sports and Culture Katrina Hanse-Himarwa and some of his advisors.