Our Roads Are A Dice With Death

CABINET this week announced the formation of a special committee to investigate the causes of the road carnage in Namibia, as hundreds of people are being needlessly killed and maimed because of the way others drive.

Travelling on Namibian roads is to play dice with death. Road safety is not only what you do to the community (in terms of heavy fines and penalties) but it is what we do with the community.
The Cabinet decision to launch a two-week investigation is a welcome one but Cabinet members, for one, need to slow down and lead by example. Often you come across their vehicles speeding recklessly.
At some stage Members of Parliament debated the carnage and some argued that there was a need to change the law to allow those with fast cars a 160 km/h speed limit.
Yet, most accidents come about as a result of speeding, dangerous driving, overtaking, general recklessness and drunk driving.
It is a fact that even in cases where drivers have little control, such as an animal on the road, they can prevent death and destruction if they keep to speed limits.
Some of Namibia’s roads have turned into valleys of death. Here I refer to the Otjiwarongo/Otavi road; the Grootfontein-Rundu road; the Swakopmund-Walvis Bay road; the Windhoek-Rehoboth stretch and the Tses-Keetmanshoop road. On those roads the murderous carnage has become a continuous nightmare to many families and to the authorities as well.
One reason for such depressing and monotonous news is corruption in certain traffic departments which continues to plague the country’s fight against the carnage.
Some officers continue to take or solicit bribes in exchange for licences for people who can hardly keep a car on the correct side of the road while changing gears.
You see the result of such corruption almost every day in the city: Some people are not even capable of getting into or out of a parking bay.
Heavy-duty traffic at night also continues to cause havoc.
Recently Cameroon banned night-time public transport between cities after a spate of deadly accidents, many involving drunk driving on the country’s infamously poor roads.
Apparently night traffic in Cameroon only represents about 5 per cent of human transport, but 35 per cent of road accidents.
Not all truck drivers, for instance, are bad at what they do but many transport companies need to reconsider their recruitment policies.
They need to hire qualified, competent drivers to minimise the carnage on the country’s roads. Some drivers are hired simply because they have driver’s licences and sometimes these are illegally acquired! Some companies also fail to have regular inspections of the roadworthiness of their vehicles.
Some of the issues I mentioned continue to be covered by regular campaigns.
The best way to avoid accidents has always been not to rush and to leave for destinations timeously.
Members of the public must also be vigilant and report to the authorities those who break the law.
We find too many drivers with devil-may-care attitudes on our roads.
The worst group remain our taxis and the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association needs to read the riot act to colleagues instead of all the infighting going on. There is a need to threaten taxi drivers into obedience!
Some simple math tells us the following: If roughly 2 000 registered taxis each commit one unlawful driving act an hour, carrying four passengers over an eight-hour working day, there are 80 000 illegal instances every day to which Namibians are subjected.
That is why in 2007 while he was Transport Minister Joel Kaapanda expressed concern about the number of illegal taxis on Namibian roads and called them “death traps”.
But as soon as the campaign is intensified against illegal taxis, owners start crying and we have also seen violent demonstrations because of that.
In a lot of instances, taxis are involved in avoidable accidents which turn out to be costly to both the Government and the people.
What is needed is a sustained approach of removing arrogance and danger from our roads through the rigorous application of heavy fines for all road users.
Our roads will continue to play a dice with death as long as authorities deal leniently with road hogs, drunk drivers and vehicles that are not roadworthy.
Road safety should be everyone’s business.

Cabinet Needs To Keep Travel Allowances Down

OK, so the children are officially on holiday, fuel has gone up again to cut their travels, the budget should soon be rubber-stamped by politicians who spent six hours to say things they could in two hours, salary increases are about to arrive for civil servants, Windhoek’s traffic officers will be making a few thousand more through fines and outstanding warrants and all roads will probably lead out of Windhoek for the Easter weekend.

It was thus timely for the usually frank and straight-forward ‘mitiri’ (teacher) Prime Minister Nahas Angula, to send an early warning to peers in Cabinet about their travel and allowance claims.
More than six years and a month ago, I watched President Hifikepunye Pohamba making his best speech ever, shortly after he took office as the country’s second leader.
And, having been a minister before that, he did not mince his words when he spoke about unnecessary travel by ministers, deputy ministers and the general unrestricted spending by staff at the country’s embassies abroad.
He said ministers needed “to reduce drastically the number and frequency of their international travels”.
Political office-bearers were instructed to first obtain his permission before they travelled outside the country and then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marco Hausiku, was directed to ensure that “Namibian missions abroad represent the country at some international conferences and meetings to avoid waste and a duplication of efforts”.
Ministers took heed of Pohamba’s warning but for a short period only.
In fact, the President himself undertook regular trips towards the end of his first term, which created the impression that the directive was only aimed at others. He was not leading by example.
I know of some in Government and the private sector who started saying that Pohamba was only ‘visiting’ Namibia so frequently was he abroad!
The saying “do as I say and not as I do” had relevance here.
To convince a majority of us that his directive was serious and that he would not tolerate the behaviour of his ministers who go on trips left, right and centre, Pohamba thus needed to slow down his own travels to lead by example.
Last week it was revealed that Prime Minister Angula has now been tasked to haul in his peers and, it seems, he has taken it on with both hands.
Angula is concerned about the huge spending on subsistence and travel (S&T). For this financial year an amount of almost N$400 million will reportedly be spent on just that.
I have no problem with ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, directors or any other people travelling as long as such trips are coordinated and we see the returns.
Some of the ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries and directors have made it their goal to travel at least 10 days in a month as the S&T became an integral part of their domestic budget.
I am not very sure about the current S&T rates but when I did a story on it some 10 years ago already, ministers were collecting anything between US$350 and US$500 a day for travelling to countries with well-established economies. That is between N$2 500 and N$3 500 a day and for 10 days it will total to N$25 000 and N$35 000. Who couldn’t do with that kind of money as an extra for the month?
But to promote the integrity of our public institutions – especially those responsible for our legislation – our leaders need to stay clear of such practices.
The travel cut should not be only on foreign trips. A weekend away like the Easter weekend should not be claimed if it is for private business.
I know ministers and others have access to Government vehicles and fuel. That’s enough of a luxury already. Stay away from the cash and let it be spent on other people such as those affected by the floods!
Our leaders owe it to the masses to keep Government expenditure down.

Lessons from a free Egypt

ONE of the signs in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, where much of the action to remove that country’s long-standing dictator Hosni Mubarak, was centred, read: “Mubarak, if you are Pharaoh, we are all Moses.’’

Within 18 days Mubarak met his Moses and left town under military escort for the seaside.
As someone said it was a total do-it-yourself revolution led by youth with the quest to bring their country “back from the dead.”
When Mubarak went on state television to deliver a veiled threat, several hundred thousand Egyptians in Tahrir Square responded by waving their shoes and shouting “go away, go away”.
I do not doubt that, if they were in the same venue with him, they would have thrown their shoes at Mubarak.
Egyptians and the world knew that, if there was to be change, it would have come from the youth at grassroots level. For once, the country’s democracy revolution was a homegrown one!
Ordinary people who were seen as having no real access to the corridors of power while elected officials listen only when the corporates speak, have turned the tables on the leaders.
For us there are a few lessons.
First, Mubarak’s greatest crime against his people was not to listen to them.
Egypt’s unemployment is reportedly around 30 or 31 per cent and a lot of young people remain in the doldrums; people struggle to make ends meet while senior government officials and their kin have lavish lives; and they still refused to listen as small pockets of unhappiness started simmering.
In that country it didn’t matter much what ordinary people wanted. The wealthy called the tune, and the politicians danced.
This week in Windhoek ordinary disgruntled workers wanted President Hifikepunye Pohamba to hear them out but were snubbed.
According to Presidential Affairs Minister, Albert Kawana, the country’s leader had more urgent constitutional matters to attend to – like opening Parliament.
I fail to understand why the President could not take at most three minutes to receive the petition from the workers.
That would have shown that he was on the same page with them with regard to the Government Institutions Pension Fund fiasco.
In any case, an hour or so before the President opened Parliament, Cabinet had very serious discussions around GIPF. His presence at the demo would have emphasised the importance they reportedly attach to solving the issue.
Worse even is the fact that the person he delegated to receive the petition did not bother to indicate to the group that Cabinet had indeed discussed the issue earlier and that action was on the cards. It would have allayed some concerns about the sluggish attitude from Government.
But now a seed of resistance has been planted among the demonstrators.
Why should everything be a secret? What’s the phobia about?
As Egypt, and previously Tunisia proved, demonstrations start small but can easily snowball into something that unseats monarchs, personal kingdoms or autocrats who are surrounded by supposedly powerful armies.
I am not saying that I advocate a coup d’tat but it is best to move away from the wildly exaggerated sense of untouchability soon. Mubarak learnt this too late and we had better take it seriously.
Tunisia was awakened by the unemployed youth and masses who claimed their dignity back. Other Arab states like Egypt have started emulating it.
The anger boiling here among young people like the ones who remain idle after training at Berg Aukas, for instance, needs to be addressed with urgency.
Our leaders need to get down to the people’s level to ensure that the simmering discontent does not boil over into unrest that will unseat them.
What makes the events in Tunisia and Egypt so powerful is their legitimacy! Democracy at its best.

Government At 100 Days: Keeping A Finger On The Pulse

NEXT week President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s class of 2010 Cabinet will mark their first 100 days in office. It will be a time for them to reflect on the work they have done so far. It is also a good time to assess the President’s performance.

From the outset, it’s good to point out that there are plenty of positive signs so far.
While the President’s first 100 days some five years ago marked a good start, there was no clear game plan and now at least there is one!
Pohamba leapt out of the starting blocks on March 21 2005 on issues such as graft and made the right noises with little or almost zero strategy – or so it looked to us outsiders.
Back then I thought his performance was wishy-washy but again it is good to point out that the strategy was probably continuation of the Sam Nujoma era. Thus many saw Pohamba’s first Cabinet as an interim Cabinet to appease Nujoma. Pohamba said a lot but delivery was below par.
In fact, there was a sense that he did not have the toughness of character to take on non-performing ministers and permanent secretaries nor determination to push for a new direction for Namibia.
This time around things look much different. Considerable work has been done behind closed doors and ministers have very clear terms of reference on what and when to deliver. In fact, next week is the deadline for them to submit their very first quarterly reports since they were (re)appointed.
With the advent of his second term in office, I believe Pohamba has pushed the ‘reset’ button although the size of the Cabinet, as well as most of the faces, remain largely the same.
It is very clear that Pohamba is not just out to reverse some of the egregious mistakes he might have made over the past five years. He also seems to want to leave an impression.
In terms of Cabinet he did not make monumental changes. But that’s his character, I’m told by those who have been close to him for many years. He likes playing safe and generally has an inclusive approach to life, which borders on preference for extensive consultation within Swapo’s top structures.
That explains why some of the ministers who hardly worked over the first five years retained their jobs.
While many of us thought that the size of Pohamba’s second Cabinet ran counter to the sentiments that had endeared him to the people, like his campaign against corruption, the President opted to keep the size basically the same.
Those who left were not sacked, to put it bluntly. They either retired or worked themselves out of Swapo congress voters’ favour. Their fate was not decided at State House.
Pohamba is well aware that the trouble with retaining the same people who have been ministers for over 15 years is that in many respects this practice is not helpful. Scarcely a handful can be regarded as people who have been effective and thus indispensable in the management of the affairs of the nation.
However, the ‘reset’ button seems to have been effective, so far, in that we see some ministers making regular ‘ministerial statements’ on key issues in Parliament and that they have also started publicly demanding increased productivity from permanent secretaries and other senior staff.
One minister recently even went to the extent of blocking a foreign trip by senior management members whom he had instructed to submit monthly reports that will help him compile his own for State House. That is encouraging.
Two weeks ago, Pohamba read the riot act to permanent secretaries. He told them to up the ante. He and Prime Minister Nahas Angula also worked on the terms of reference (ToR) of permanent secretaries, I understand.
Pohamba could take it a step further by instructing Foreign Affairs to come up with ToR for ambassadors before they are reshuffled/appointed and posted.
There is a need to place each foreign mission under the microscope. We need to see returns from some of our missions abroad.
For some there is not even the faintest sign of a trade-lead yet they receive huge funds each year to run the office, pay staff salaries, give allowances to their spouses and live in luxury.
Perhaps here is a case for the Auditor General to zoom in on non-performing missions with the hope of helping the President to decide which ones to close.
For the President to leave a mark, he needs to look at issues holistically. Some are immediate fixes, but others will serve the nation’s long-term interests although they might not make him popular among his comrades.
Otherwise, we will get nothing more than a crutch when we need a cure.
However, as things look right now, Pohamba seems to be keeping his finger on the nation’s pulse.

* This article first appeared in The Namibian

Advice To The President On His New Cabinet

Advice To The President On His New Cabinet

By: CHRISTOF MALETSKY

JUST when we thought that political campaigns were over, they started afresh. The only difference is that this time around it is in Swapo and has to do with appointments to the new Cabinet.

Nowadays the phrase on the lips of most senior Swapo politicians: “did you get called?”. They are asking one another whether President Hifikepunye Pohamba had called them to State House to discuss a possible appointment.
I have also been waiting for a call from President Pohamba! Mine was to become a one-day consultant to advise him on how to go about compiling his new team. For some reason it didn’t happen and time is running out!
I have thus taken the liberty to use my pen (sorry, computer) to write down a few notes I want the newspaper vendor to deliver at the doors of the new State House.
Initially I compiled a whole list of Cabinet ministers and deputies but realised that people started ‘leaking’ President Pohamba’s lists in the hope of stirring public debate.
Why can’t they just release theirs like Paul Shipale – a regular contributor to a local daily?
Anyway, the next five years will be the last for President Pohamba at the helm and he needs to really make his mark.
That means he will have to be very straight and tell some of his current crop of ministers that they have failed to deliver and need to step aside.
We desperately need new and good blood in our political system. I mean people with not only talent and energy but also moral integrity. A good mix of experience and young blood is what we now need.
From the current crop, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and Dr Abraham Iyambo are the youngest, but both protégés of former President Sam Nujoma. They are also the only ones under the age of 50.
Pohamba has yet to unleash any one of Swapo’s ‘generation next’ and this year is his last opportunity.
Due to time and space I will limit my input to certain key ministries and probably the boldest moves.
First it’s important to point out that since Independence the size of our Cabinet has increased from 22 to 26 in 2005.
Japan runs the world’s second largest economy with just 28 ministers.
Your best administrators are supposed to be in the civil service, not in Cabinet.
As a starter my Prime Minister would be Abraham Iyambo. Recently I had the opportunity to listen to him addressing a group of young people. He revealed how he administered Swapo Youth League and even disciplined older comrades “for the sake of Namibia”.
I got the impression that he will be a brave young man who will not stand back at the challenge of taking the Namibian public service back to where it started out.
Having said that, I initially wanted Hage Geingob, and was not going to take kindly to him telling me that he prefers to stay at Trade. It’s about who can do the work best and I still think he is the first candidate.
For Pohamba to leave with a bang, he needs to create the position of Executive Minister in his office and move Geingob there.
It will not be a token job but he will work very closely with the Prime Minister to set the agenda and transform the Party’s manifesto into workable Government policies.
It means the two will have a very clear mandate and set targets which need to be reviewed on an annual basis.
Iyambo will be deputised by Marco Hausiku and I have shifted the current Prime Minister to the position of Foreign Affairs Minister.
Theo-Ben Gurirab is a diplomat and the ideal scenario would have been to move him back to Foreign Affairs.
However, someone whispered to me that one of the undertakings Namibia made when Gurirab was nominated for the presidency of the International Parliament Union was that he would serve the whole term. Doreen Sioka will remain the deputy.
That is why Nahas Angula must go to Foreign Affairs and teach diplomats with the ever-diplomatic Elia Kaiyamo as deputy.
I had Martin Shalli at defence even before opposition filed their papers to challenge the election results. Therefore, I am not copying anyone there. His deputy should be former Plan fighter Kazenambo Kazenambo.
I would also like to give Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo (another presidential nominee) a shot at Education while former teacher Isak Katali and Dr David Namwandi would be her deputies. Katali is for basic education and Namwandi for higher education.
We will have a new Finance Minister in Tom Alweendo, deputised by Bernhardt Esau, while Kuugongelwa-Amadhila will be in charge of the Trade Ministry. Her negotiation skills came through very clearly when she was still at the National Planning Commission and we can utilise them well to bring in investment and trade deals.
I don’t think Dr Boniface Mutumba will mind if we appoint him as Deputy Minister of Trade.
I have merged the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry with Lands and Resettlement with Sakkie Coetzee from the Namibia Agriculture Union as head.
As a balancing act I will have the young and vibrant Peya Mushelenga as deputy in charge of lands and resettlement while Evelyne Nawases-Kayele will be head of water and forestry.
Charles Namoloh will move to Safety and Security and will be accompanied by Tommy Nambahu while John Mutorwa and Lempy Lucas will be in charge of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism as Minister and Deputy Minister.
I have merged the Ministry of Mines and Energy with Labour. Veteran politician Ben Amathila will head the ministry and have two deputies in Sylvia Makgone (Mines and Energy) and Alpheus Muheua (Labour).
The same goes for the Ministry of Minister of Health and Gender Equality. I opted to retain Dr Richard Kamwi as Minister but with Petrina Haingura (Health) and Priscilla Beukes (Gender Equality).
Loide Kasingo must try to improve matters at the Ministry of Home Affairs, while Alpheus Naruseb gets Works and Transport deputised by Petrus Iilonga.
Joel Kaapanda gets Youth and Sport but will have two deputies in Clive Willemse (Youth) and Pohamba Shifeta (Sport). Willemse is a presidential nominee and has established himself in working with the youth at community level.
Justice will have a new Minister in Utoni Nujoma (do I have a choice!) and he will be deputised by Chief Samuel Ankama.
I opted for Tjekero Tweya at Fisheries with former Governor Billy Mwaningange as his deputy.
The Director General of the National Planning Commission will be Nangolo Mbumba.
The last Ministry will be that of Regional, Local Government and Housing with Jerry Ekandjo and Erastus Uutoni as his deputy.
The Attorney General will become a full-fledged office at Cabinet level with Albert Kawana in charge.
The implementation of the August 2002 Swapo congress resolution on the effective functioning of the party secretariat is long overdue. It was passed when President Hifikepunye Pohamba was still the Secretary General. Thus the party’s Secretary General Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana will be full-time at the head office.
The Ministry of Information will become a department in the Office of the President.
There you have it, the Cabinet I would have proposed to President Pohamba had I been his advisor. Unfortunately, I am not.

* This article first appeared in The Namibian