Kunene Region again made news headlines this week, this time for children who sleep in the open due to long distance between school and home as well as the absence of hostels at their remote school.
The pictures, which prompted some activists this week to react by canvassing for support from Good Samaritans, epitomise the miserable destitution across Kunene.
Officially, Kunene is already home to the country’s poorest constituency, Epupa, and this calls for serious intervention by government and its development partners.
This week’s media reports echo another scenario when, in July 2013, a clinic in a remote district of Otjimuhaka that caters to 38 villages had to close down because its only registered nurse went on maternity leave over the weekend.
Without serious reform, the region could become a breeding ground for further poverty – which would only tore into pieces what is left of humanity in that region.
Some people tried to argue that many of the problems in Kunene is due to the nomadic nature of most of its residents, but we counter this as not only insensitive towards the affected communities, but also a hogwash justification.
The very fact that these children are embarking on long distances through elephant-infested forests to access education is a clear indication that there is movement towards civilisation in Kunene.
The last thing they need is to be discouraged from attending school by the harsh conditions imposed on them by lack of basic facilities that must serve as a foundation for their basic education.
It is no blessing to bring a child into a world of destitution, abuse, or neglect. The conditions reported in the press this week can have devastating psychological effects on a child, let alone its future.
We are cognisant of the measures taken by the Presidency recently by assigning national leaders to Epupa with a task to help eradicate poverty in that constituency, but perhaps it is worth pointing out that poverty is littered across the width and breadth of the entire Kunene. It is therefore incumbent upon Governor Angelika Muharukua and the constituency councillors in the region to identity relevant areas of intervention so that central government can devise ways to get to the bottom of destitution in the region.
It is thought by many that the political tug of war between the ruling party and the opposition in Kunene might be part of the reason why Kunene remains of the periphery of the country’s economic mainstream.
If that is true, and we are not saying it is, our politicians must be ashamed of themselves for putting party politics ahead of the plight of that region.
The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) flew helicopters to mountainous areas of Kunene last year to ensure that votes are canvassed from residents in that area. The same aggression of accessing votes must therefore be applied in ensuring the same people have access to socio-economic benefits that Namibia has to offer.