Warm greetings to all Namibians from the Anglican Diocese of Namibia.
I am writing this piece of message as priest, vicar-general of the Anglican Church in Namibia and indeed as a woman. I wish to make a statement in condemnation of the grisly murder of Jacqueline and Cecilia Kuaseua, allegedly by Ananias Kamati, teacher at Augustineum secondary school in Windhoek on the afternoon of October 9th 2015.
As the Anglican Church in Namibia, we want to register our outmost condemnation of such a practice which seems to be on the increase here in Namibia. On behalf of the Anglican Church, I just want to make it clear that no matter what the reasons may be, killing is evil and we condemn it in the strongest terms. The Bible (Exd 20: 13) teaches us against murder and it also reminds us that life is sacred and it must be treated as such (Gen. 9: 6). We will continue to pray for this abominable curse which our beautiful country is grappling with right now. I also want to thank our President, Dr Hage Geingob, and his wife Monica Geingos for showing solidarity with the bereaved family and indeed visiting the scene of this gruesome murder.
May the souls of Jacqueline and Cecilia rest in peace and rise in glory and may the Good Lord from whom all comforts come, console Prisca Kuaseua and her entire family members, the students and teachers at Augustineum secondary school. We also pray for the quick recovery of the perpetrator of this heinous act (suspect Ananias Kamati) so that justice can take its full course.
In addition, let me mention that some Namibians seem to have lost their sense of humanity and moral values. It seems there is no longer trust amongst people, either from the pastoral point of view or even within family members.
As such people are fighting their own battles and when they fail to get a solution, they turn to alcohol and drug abuse, something that needs urgent attention from all stakeholders. The gender violence that we are witnessing in Namibia is a real cause of concern for both church and the government and, as such, we need to work together and stop this ‘cancer’ that seem to be malignant and threatening our peace and tranquillity – which we all know cost others their lives. There are some people who are using their freedom irresponsibly and that should be stopped forthwith.
Sadly, what we see is that our community leaders are busy blaming each other; parents are blaming teachers, the government is blaming the church, the church is blaming the government as well as parents for failing to bring their children up in a Christian way and instead treat them like princesses and princes and thus fail to respect or value anybody but themselves. Such web of blames will not lead us anywhere. What we need is strong unity in finding the solution to these devilish acts.
God will judge each one of us for failing to take care of each other; whether you are a government leader, religious leader, parent or teacher. We are all to blame. An African saying, “it takes a village to raise a child”, is a true and perfect example to what should be happening in our society. We have all failed our children and thus failed ourselves. It’s time we say no to all the gender violence that we see around us everyday and claim our “Ubuntu” back.
The ethics of Ubuntu commands us to love, care, and respect and indeed value one another. Ubuntu reminds that “I am because we are”. It’s a call to consider others’ comfort and life before we consider ours. This is what we need to entrench in our nation.
We must be ashamed of ourselves. Instead of fighting poverty and other types of social issues like unemployment, we are busy killing ourselves and thus leaving some parents childless and children orphaned. These young people could have been the saviours of their family from abject poverty after they had finished school. Now all that is history because of what someone who was supposed to be their protector allegedly did to them and indeed the entire nation.
The church is indeed mourning with the Kuaseua family right now. We continue to pray that they may have strength during their unexpected loss. May the souls of Jacqueline and Cecilia rest in peace and rise in glory.
• Reverend Linea Haufiku is vicar-general of the Anglican Diocese of Namibia