According to Frankena (1973), the word 'moral' is derived from the Latin word 'mos' or 'moralis', which means manner or custom, while the Greek word 'ethikos' for ethics means the same and it is concerned with the way we conduct ourselves or behave, as well as the course of action we take in certain moral problems. 

Moral values deal with issues like telling the truth and embezzlement of the taxpayer’s money by looting the treasury through corrupt means. For centuries moral values have been inculcated in the minds of young people through both formal and informal education. Countless literature accounts and discourses point to the undeniable reality that Africans had their systems which were in perfect operation including the preservation of moral values before the intrusion of the Western systems. 

Chazan et al (1992) are on record that when Europeans arrived in Africa, they encountered indigenous states which had long-established patterns of interaction within their cultural settings, which they disrupted. In a similar vein, Barker (1999) went further and asserts that the old African philosophy of education emphasised social responsibility, the development of manual, artistic and intellectual skills, political awareness and most importantly spiritual and moral values aimed at producing an individual who was honest, respectful, skilled, knowledgeable, co-operative, well-versed in the community’s customs and traditions and who conformed willingly to the social pattern of community. Nyerere (1967) in post-independent Tanzania postulates and describes African Socialism as an attitude of mind which is needed to ensure that people care for each other’s welfare. 

The three basic characteristics of African Socialism are work by everyone and exploitation by none, fair sharing of the resources which are produced by joint efforts and equality and respect for human dignity. The philosophy encourages people to retain traditional values of human equality and dignity while taking advantage of modern knowledge and liberating themselves from slavery, exploitation and servitude and total liberation of body, mind and soul. In this process of liberation, one was destined to attain self-actualisation, as an individual, not as a puppet. It is only through education that an African should be liberated from the mentality of slavery and colonialism, making him aware of his equality with other human races.  

But what is at play in Namibia is quite the opposite of moral values and feeling for one another as fellow human beings. What is ironic is that the current political dispensation included the Harambee philosophy in its governance, which is far from the realisation of its moral values of caring for one another. 

There are political leaders who are so insensitive to the plight of fellow citizens who wallow in poverty and homelessness. There are rich political elites among members of parliament from both the ruling party and the opposition, who are not keen on helping the struggling and vulnerable Namibians.  

According to information from a daily, there are about 50% of Namibians who live below the poverty line. This automatically means the children of these families find it difficult to access necessary materials for school. 

Think of it, where 60 000 applicants are vying for 13 000 temporary census positions. 

This emanates from the failure of the political elite in providing much-needed jobs, especially among the youth, despite the availability of resources. This can be attributed to a lack of moral values among the leaders in this country. The resources which are there are siphoned through corrupt means and shared among the elite at the expense of vulnerable people. 

These are among the educated and well-placed members of the elite in this country, who fail the moral educational yardstick. Akinpelu (1981) states that in the African context, to talk of an educated man is to describe a man who combines expertise with the soundness of character and wisdom and judgment. 

He is the one who is equipped to handle successfully the problems of living in his immediate and extended family. If our political leaders fail to handle the challenges facing a smaller population like Namibia, then the future of the country appears to be bleak. There is no excuse for the Africans to have lost their useful cultures and values, and made to behave in ways which were so strange and foreign to their own because after Independence Africans had the political right to reverse the status quo. 

The erosion of moral values cannot be blamed on the colonisers and missionaries after 33 years of independence but falls squarely on the political leadership and the masses who cannot change the system. Many Namibians are exposed to all of these issues but continue to relegate the masses to the doldrums of poverty for lack of moral values and ethics.

The cases of corruption, where monies are disappearing daily and issues of corruption, in which culprits are never made accountable for their actions are breaches of moral values. Some of the culprits are from the judiciary fraternity, but they seem to be above the law. 

In Namibian schools like elsewhere across the African continent, it is mostly Western values, Western attitudes, Western thinking, Western dressing, Western religious worship and so on, which are promoted at the expense of the African way of doing things. In the whole process, education should be seen to be imparting moral values and norms of the society, because a society losing its morals is doomed to failure in all its endeavours. It is through moral education in which corrupt practices will be reduced and the caring of one another will be manifested.