Kicking dirt in poor faces
The growing disrespect for the poor and vulnerable, characterised by utterances by those who are now voted into power, leaves much to be desired.
After Utoni Nujoma's so-called 'entrapment' when he explicitly said the poor cannot run expensive farms, while being interviewed by South Africa's eNCA, justice minister Sacky Shanghala has now entered the fray. Shanghala, who is reportedly himself a beneficiary of government business deals, was quoted by the local media as saying that fishing rights are not for everyone in the country. “Now, the new thing is fishing quotas, fishing rights. People, it is not for everybody. If it were for everybody, then fine. Walking around here, there are many opportunities, but nobody is taking them,” Shanghala was quoted as saying in The Namibian on Monday. Just the other day, a fisheries official told a consultative meeting to discuss the new requirements when applying for fishing rights that a Namibians should look beyond fishing. While it is true there are indeed limited opportunities in various industries, including the fishing sector, which this time has only reserved 96 new fighting rights, vulnerable members of our society can no longer just be bystanders of economic activity in their own country. Politicians preach economic emancipation all the time, but once in power, they totally forget about those who mandated them to lead in the first place. This begs the question: Who are our leaders representing and in whose interests are they speaking and acting when making such damaging and disparaging remarks in the public domain? The previously disadvantaged, which include the middle class and downtrodden of our society, need the encouragement and facilitation of an environment in which they can prosper, instead of being swiped away by those with fat fingers who already had their fill of tenders and other advantages. The key, in terms of all these so-called economic opportunities, is that decisions by the powers that be should not be made to enrich a few. That has been a major stumbling block in our 28 years of democracy. The patience of the poor and vulnerable, when it comes to the sharing of the economic cake, is running out.
We cannot just see the same faces benefitting ad infinitum. How greedy can they really be?
After Utoni Nujoma's so-called 'entrapment' when he explicitly said the poor cannot run expensive farms, while being interviewed by South Africa's eNCA, justice minister Sacky Shanghala has now entered the fray. Shanghala, who is reportedly himself a beneficiary of government business deals, was quoted by the local media as saying that fishing rights are not for everyone in the country. “Now, the new thing is fishing quotas, fishing rights. People, it is not for everybody. If it were for everybody, then fine. Walking around here, there are many opportunities, but nobody is taking them,” Shanghala was quoted as saying in The Namibian on Monday. Just the other day, a fisheries official told a consultative meeting to discuss the new requirements when applying for fishing rights that a Namibians should look beyond fishing. While it is true there are indeed limited opportunities in various industries, including the fishing sector, which this time has only reserved 96 new fighting rights, vulnerable members of our society can no longer just be bystanders of economic activity in their own country. Politicians preach economic emancipation all the time, but once in power, they totally forget about those who mandated them to lead in the first place. This begs the question: Who are our leaders representing and in whose interests are they speaking and acting when making such damaging and disparaging remarks in the public domain? The previously disadvantaged, which include the middle class and downtrodden of our society, need the encouragement and facilitation of an environment in which they can prosper, instead of being swiped away by those with fat fingers who already had their fill of tenders and other advantages. The key, in terms of all these so-called economic opportunities, is that decisions by the powers that be should not be made to enrich a few. That has been a major stumbling block in our 28 years of democracy. The patience of the poor and vulnerable, when it comes to the sharing of the economic cake, is running out.
We cannot just see the same faces benefitting ad infinitum. How greedy can they really be?
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Namibian Sun
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