With voter registration in full swing and the elections slated for November, New Era’s Alvine Kapitako spoke to Johannes Kamundilo who lives in the Kilimanjaro informal settlement in the Tobias Hainyeko constituency who shared his views on why he is going to vote and why Namibians should cast their votes come the elections and this is what he had to say.
NE: What does it mean for you to go and vote?
JK: Our constitution gives us the right to go and vote. I am going to vote, because I need good governance, transparency and accountability.
NE: Why is it important for all Namibians to vote?
JK: The youth especially should go out in big numbers to vote because they understand, illiterate people don’t know what is going on. That’s a problem because the country cannot develop if you don’t understand the policies and laws of the country. We are a democracy with a multi-party system. We want to have political parties that will represent the nation in the National Assembly as lawmakers. Today, people are voting, because they want to see change. We must vote for change and not ask President Hifikepunye Pohamba or the opposition to change. The voter must bring change.
NE: Based on past experience, are your obligations being fulfilled through voting?
JK: Ah, I see that in town it’s developed, but we in the informal settlements are suffering. We don’t have anything but we vote very well. Politicians want to come to us during elections, but after that they go away from us and then there is no one to address our problems.
NE: Do you feel the electorate is considered in terms of wealth distribution and social development?
JK: I think they are not considered, because you see the people get nothing from government – those who are in Katutura, especially those in informal settlements. We got nothing, no electricity, the water is far from us, toilets are few and malfunctioning. We have many people suffering from disease because of the dirty water that is just running. We don’t have tarred roads so taxis don’t come here we are dropped where the road ends and we have to walk for long distances. If you come home while it is dark its unsafe, because we cannot afford to pay taxis until here and in fact they refuse to come here. We do business here, but we do not have electricity and that makes it difficult for us to run our businesses and in turn help government also. As business people we are also trying to work for ourselves and also to employ a few people.
NE: Are the poor benefiting from the fruits independence?
JK: Not many of them benefit. I see some people get drought relief, but it is not done here in the informal settlements. The government is not doing anything here in the informal settlements but we are experiencing a drought of our own although we are not receiving anything. Tertiary institutions like Unam (University of Namibia) and Poly (Polytechnic of Namibia) are expensive.
NE: What developmental change would you like to see in your constituency?
JK: I want people in informal settlements to get electricity, tarred roads, water in our houses, toilets in our houses and not outside. We cannot use toilets outside when it is dark for the sake of our safety. We don’t have land, we still remain poor. We cannot afford to buy land. We are getting older, but we don’t have land and it’s difficult. But the government said it has programmes to give indigenous people land free of charge, but we didn’t get any so we are not benefiting from the fruits of independence. If we have our own land we would be able to lead productive lives.
NE: In your view what are the main priority areas that politicians should address when it comes to the country’s development?
JK: Education is very important in life. Namibia should have many educated people. I read somewhere that among SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries only Namibia has a weak export economy, because we have illiterate people. We want our country to be developed so that we can become an exporting our economy. We use our money only for imports and we buy a lot of things from outside. Our money is going elsewhere. We should export so that we can bring in more money in the country in order to build the country’s economy.
NE: Housing is a problem across the country, do you think politicians are doing enough to ensure all Namibians have decent and affordable housing?
JK: Ah, I think it is better to give the poor land. If you give the poor land then it’s a good opportunity to build something for the poor people. If they don’t have land how can you build houses? The priority is that they must give land.
NE: Do you think government would be able to respond to the needs of the people in terms of housing by 2030?
JK: Ja (yes), they are talking about Vision 2030, but we are not working towards it. We are only talking about Vision 2030 but how are we working towards it? For example, Ramatex is closed and the standard in the health sector is declining. We have good policies, but we don’t implement them so how will we take this (Vision 2030) forward? People are travelling during work hours, some of them are farmers also, so they are not working. During work hours you find that some offices are closed than you ask where are these people? They must work!
NE: Do you think there is enough consultation between politicians and the electorate with regard to constituency development across the country?
JK: Sometimes I see that the ruling party has a lot of power in the informal settlements. If another party comes here then it’s a problem and they (electorate) swear at those people who want to help them. You see, they only want one party to come here, that’s a problem. You see illiterate people don’t read, they don’t know what is going on because their minds are only set on one party. The consultation between politicians and the electorate is not enough.
NE: Do you attend public meetings when officials from government come to you? If so what is your experience if not why not?
JK: Yes, sometimes. But we usually don’t have much of a say because the municipality comes with its own decisions and not for us to share ideas. The councillor also does not come always.
NE: Do you know your councillor? And do you think he or she adequately represents your constituency?
JK: Yes, but he is not representing us very well maybe because he has a lot of work to do.
NE: What do you think are the shortcomings of some of the politicians?
JK: Ok, there are no shortcomings with politicians because we attained our independence from the colonisers. Our young people are not interested in politics. Our young people watch ‘Big Brother’ and entertainment is dominating. We are interested in things that are not of national interest.
NE: What is your general assessment of democracy in Namibia in general?
JK: People must know the importance of voting. We must also vote for the opposition parties to push the government to work harder.
NE: And do you think people living here are doing their part in making life better for themselves or do they just depend on the government for everything?
JK: We are doing our part here. We are doing business here in informal settlements. We are maybe even the second contributors to the economy of the country. Yes, we make money here but the problem is we have no facilities. We are also not qualified to get land, we want land so that we can work with ease. Government should give small business owners financial assistance and training so that they can improve.