2016-11-11Staff Report 2 Women cannot be regarded the same as intellectual and material property. While intellectual property is gained through studying, and material property is gained through buying and investing, the same can’t be said about women. Why do I refuse to compare the two types of property with women? Unlike the aforementioned properties, women can’t be owned and they don’t qualify to be property of men. A lot of confusion is often created in a relationship by one party claiming one-sided ownership of such a union. Truth be told, joint unions through a relationship bond should be based on mutual agreement and by that I mean profound understanding of the highest calibre. Two different worlds break barriers and borders and jointly attribute different sets of beliefs, religion, race, class, norms, values and viewpoints and an amicable consensus is reached to compromise and align the two different worlds for the benefit of both parties in order to live in harmony. Respect and dignity should not dissolve in a relationship just because the honeymoon phase has long passed by. We often overlook the core reasons that drew us together in the first place; chemistry, character and personality play a vital role in the establishment of the relationship. At first the term ‘in love’ is relevant and however the relationship goes through stages of development, it becomes irrelevant since it’s replaced by love. An arrogant and superior attitude serves very often to destroy and demolish the beauty within a peaceful and loving relationship. So the so-called passion killing should actually be referred to as brutal killing and gender-based violence could abate if men stop regarding and treating women as their property. In fact this is dehumanising and an insult to the human race in general, because women are individuals in their own right and are entitled to make their own choices and decisions. So why do we men vent our frustrations and anger towards women when they end a relationship by brutally killing them? Have we as men ever asked why they walk away? And in some instances we end up taking the lives of innocent children to make an apparent foolish point. We attach so much value to our properties, but none at all to the lives of our women and children, whose lives we prematurely and brutally cut short. Everyone should have the right to fall in love and equally so to fall out of love, because if the elements that have drawn us together no longer exist in our relationship, we should bow out with honour and the dignity befitting a gentleman of high calibre. By cutting the lives of our women - and at times that of children – short, we are actually demoting ourselves from the title of men, to that of spineless cowards. So we should apply the same principle of consensus and compromise in ending our relationship, without hurting or shedding blood. The masterplan of our motherland is that of economic emancipation outlined within the Harambee Prosperity Plan and it has no room for the so-called passion killing and GBV. The two are elements of destruction in our country. But there is plenty of room for men who are willing to protect and love their loved ones; men who can solve differences without resorting to violence against the very same people we claim to love and protect. By killing our women, we are removing the pillars of economic emancipation, as orphans and vulnerable people are left destitute and in poverty. Frans Kamandjoto Haimbodi Lüderitz 2016-11-11Staff Report 2
