“Not all of us can go to university and university is not for everyone. That is why we have to promote entrepreneurship in the country. These days entrepreneurs can make more money than doctors and lawyers,” says Dr Helena Ndume.
One route to such entrepreneurship, that Namibia has lately as a matter of official policy been trying to chart, is vocational training centres such as the one being mooted at Otjinene Village in the Otjinene Constituency of the Omaheke Region.
It is a known fact that the region of Omaheke has remained in the bottom six position in the national Grade 10 and 12 examination rankings for the past five years. Given this state of affairs, it is not known what may have been the lot and destiny of the learners who, year in and year out, have not been reaching the mark in these two grades.
One needs not look further than the major villages and settlements in the region that have been teeming with idle youths. And perhaps this is the context in which to view the initiative by Dr Olga Kamuruao to start a vocational training centre in the village of Otjinene.
The Kavitundema Trust was launched last Saturday in Otjinene, as well as the ground-breaking of the site where the envisaged centre is to be built. The event, despite the initial hiccup of mistrust, rivalry and internecine bickering among the powers that be – political, traditional and administrative – at times egoistically flexing their muscle and threatening to withhold the land from this noble project.
Once again, as had been the case previously with many a development project in some areas of the beleaguered Omaheke, egos and a false sense of power and importance were threatening to subject such a noble project to parochial interest.
But eventually reason seemed to eventually prevail with the launching of the trust, and the ground-breaking going ahead, and proving to be a success albeit some of the key stakeholders, for reasons known to themselves, being conspicuous in their absence. But the launch of the trust, and ground-breaking, are only the beginning, and by no means a less important one for that matter.
And by no means is this beginning sufficient although necessary. Most important is that all and sundry who are engaged and involved with this noble project pull together without looking backward, but only forward in pulling and pushing this initiative jointly together towards its destiny.
And this destiny cannot be anything else but the construction of the centre in due course. There are vibes of other parallel initiatives, and strangely from the relevant powers that be. This is worrisome that all role players may not be pulling together on this one.
The reasons may only be known to those who are reluctant to pull together. But this does not augur well, not only for the project itself but for the constituency, and the larger Omaheke Region in terms of development. Never mind the initiator of the project.
The acid test is whether the region needs such a centre or not. In this regard there should be no doubt as one may not be aware of such a centre in the greater Omaheke. And in view of the fact that vocational training centres are one route the government has been exploring in terms imparting skills, and an alternative to purely academic education, and necessary means of employment creation, its essence cannot be doubted.
Thus, there is no denying the importance of vocational training centres, especially in impoverished and delinquent communal areas such as many settlements in Omaheke. One can also not doubt the location of the centre in the village of Otjinene.
Having lately been proclaimed a village council, there is no doubt that Otjinene, given the necessary support and push by all and sundry, including by the regional government, as well as by central government, can become an important developmental hub for the Omaheke Region, thereby giving the whole region the necessary development impetus that seems to be lacking.
But this can only be possible when the inhabitants of the region generally, and specifically those of the constituency and village, start to look at the bigger picture than their parochial ghost interests as charity begins at home. Yes, each may have her/his narrow interests but such can only be meaningfully harnessed and realised when harmonised and aggregated. The launch of the trust and ground-breaking on Saturday brought all the role players, especially from Otjinene itself, and Omaheke, together, thus laying the foundation for the requisite trust among them. Thus an important beginning seemed to have been made for the way forward. The way forward cannot be easy but is most crucial, particularly in first securing the requisite funds. No one would risk her/his investment in a project which does not carry the blessings and support of the concerned community. This is a fact that the community of the village, constituency and region is well-advised to seriously awaken to.