By Staff Reporter
SWAKOPMUND – Tribal tension and racial prejudice should be addressed in order for nation-building efforts to proceed without hindrance, said the Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology Stanley Simataa.
Simataa said this when addressing the opening of a five-day training workshop on the Nationhood and National Pride (NNP) campaign in Swakopmund on Monday.
He said Namibia has of late experienced isolated racial and tribal altercations, the worst of which are crimes which are committed that are perceived to have racial undertones.
He said the NNP campaign is the right channel to build a nation where being Namibian will be regarded as more important than race, tribe or political orientation.
“The campaign seeks to draw on our rich cultural diversity to develop common values that can identify our nation from amongst many other nations. It is a vehicle through which we should muster and rally sustained support and cultivate high levels of consciousness and commitment to the nation,” he said.
Namibians should take pride and ownership of the country by promoting the Nationhood and National Pride (NNP) campaign, as it will ultimately determine the degree to which Namibians can connect and develop a common identity, he told delegates.
The workshop attended by about 70 participants is aimed at educating and training stakeholders on the contents of the NNP strategic plan and also to develop a training manual that will be used for the establishment of the NNP regional and constituency structures.
Chief regional officers, representatives and members of the Interim NNP National Stakeholders Forum as well as representatives of SOEs are attending the five-day workshop.
According to Simaata, the workshop provides key NNP stakeholders a platform to acquaint themselves with the key doctrines of the NNP as embodied in the strategic plan approved by cabinet in August.
The NNP campaign was conceived during a cabinet retreat in 2006, followed by the presidential directive to cabinet in 2007.
The directive was that the government through the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology develop the NNP campaign as a vehicle to support and sustain the Namibian citizenship, motivate individual and collective consciousness of duty, commitment obligations and responsibility to the nation and to each other as fellow citizens of Namibia. President Hifikepunye Pohamba officially launched the NNP campaign in April 2011 with the aim to address social ills such as tribalism, violence against women and children, vandalism of public property and crime, among others.
“The plan, amongst others, envisages the establishment of regional and constituency structures that will be tasked to spearhead the implementation of the national initiative at regional and constituency level,” Simaata explained.
Simataa further stated it is therefore crystal clear that effective and functional regional and constituency structures must be in place for the successful attainment of the objectives of NNP.
Simaata said the NNP campaign also seeks to draw on the country’s rich cultural diversity to develop common values that can identify the Namibian nation from other nations in the world.
“It is a vehicle through which we should muster and rally sustained support and cultivate a high level of consciousness and commitment to the nation,” explained the deputy minister of information.
The NNP workshop is expected to touch on issues and topics such as the perspective of the NNP campaign, the establishment of NNP national and regional structures, it’s funding as well as the role of the various line ministries in the campaign.
Speakers at the workshop include the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga, Professor Joseph Diescho, veteran politician Adimba Toivo ya Toivo and Professor André du Pisani.
A NNP Strategic Plan will also be launched on Friday.
(Additional reporting by Nampa)