By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK “Never in the history of humanity has leadership been more necessasry than now that the human race is at a crossroads,” said the Minister of Education last week when he officially opened a leadership workshop in the capital. He was speaking at the launch of the third cycle of the Inter-Active Leadership Programme presented by the British Council in Namibia for 12 selected Namibian participants who graduated. “Humanity needs leaders in all aspects of life. Namibia, like the rest of the world needs quality leadership: in institutions of learning, in the workplace, in government, in sports, in family life and in communities. This leadership programme is designed by Africans for Africans based on the principle of developing a modern and forward-looking relationship between Africa and the United Kingdom,” said Minister Nangolo Mbumba. He also contented that the Inter-Action Leadership programme is based on trust and shared values. “It encourages participants to challenge the ‘deficit’ view of Africa by recognizing success and learning from what has worked and is working on the continent. The programme aims at generating a network of opinion-formers, change agents and future leaders – men and women in sub-Saharan Africa who will increasingly see the commitment of the United Kingdom to Africa in a positive light,” he said of the programme that was launched in January 2004 in all the 19 African countries where the British Council is represented. Some of the Namibians who have gone through the programme include: Dr Victoria Nicodemus, winner of the 2004 Namibian Businesswoman of the Year; Charles Eichab, multi-winner of international chess tournaments and official of the Namibia Chess Federation; Jeremia Muadinohamba, Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Vehicle Fund. “I want to encourage both past and current participants to share the transformation they have experienced in order to highlight the success stories from Namibia alongside those from the rest of Africa. I urge them to be exemplary and to fly our country’s flag with pride at these important forums,” said Mbumba, who also officially launched the Pan-African Network of Leaders.