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The 2019 elections: no issues, boring, no excitement, no spark and no hope

Staff Reporter
Dr Kuiri F Tjipangandjara writes:



To date, there is nothing engaging about the 2019 elections, and absolutely nothing worth writing home about.

By this time, one was expecting the candidates to have shared their perspective on the state of the nation, the challenges the country is facing, and their strategies and implementation plans to remedy the crises that Namibians are currently experiencing.

By this time, one was expecting the candidates to be actively promoting their plans for more transparent and accountable governance, while highlighting the systems and processes needed to achieve a more equitable and democratic union.

By this time, one was expecting the candidates to have generated sufficient excitement about the elections, and our collective future, to ensure that all registered citizens exercise their rights at the voting booths on 27 November.

By this time, one was expecting the candidates to have given the nation concrete reasons to hope for a better tomorrow.

Instead, all that one has seen and heard are colourful wardrobes, new dance routines, empty slogans, deafening hand-clapping, character assassinations and tribal undertones, which leave one fearful about our future.



*Dr Kuiri F Tjipangandjara (D Sci Eng) – was a former employee of NamWater, University of Namibia and Rossing Uranium Mine. He holds degrees from Lincoln University and Columbia University in the USA.

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Namibian Sun 2024-04-28

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Premier League: Nottingham Forest 0 vs 2 Manchester City | Bournemouth 3 vs 0 Brighton | Tottenham Hotspur 2 vs 3 Arsenal | Aston Villa 2 vs 2 Chelsea | Everton 1 vs 0 Brentford | Wolves 2 vs 1 Luton Town | Fulham 1 vs 1 Crystal Palace | Manchester United 1 vs 1 Burnley | Newcastle 5 vs 1 Sheffield United | West Ham 2 vs 2 Liverpool | Brighton 0 vs 4 Manchester City LaLiga: Villarreal 3 vs 0 Rayo Vallecano | Granada 3 vs 0 Osasuna | Cadiz 1 vs 1 Mallorca | Atletico Madrid 3 vs 1 Athletic Club | Deportivo Alaves 3 vs 0 Celta Vigo | Almería 1 vs 3 Getafe | Las Palmas 0 vs 2 Girona | Real Sociedad 0 vs 1 Real Madrid SerieA: Napoli 2 vs 2 AS Roma | Atalanta 2 vs 0 Empoli | Bologna 1 vs 1 Udinese | Inter Milan 2 vs 0 Torino | SS Lazio 1 vs 0 Hellas Verona | Juventus 0 vs 0 AC Milan | Lecce 1 vs 1 Monza | Frosinone 3 vs 0 Salernitana | Udinese 1 vs 2 AS Roma European Championships Qualifying: Hull City 3 vs 3 Ipswich Town | Millwall FC 1 vs 0 Plymouth Argyle | Blackburn Rovers 0 vs 0 Coventry City | Watford 1 vs 0 Sunderland | Bristol City 2 vs 0 Rotherham United | Huddersfield Town 1 vs 1 Birmingham City | Sheffield Wednesday 3 vs 0 West Bromwich Albion | Norwich City 2 vs 2 Swansea City | Cardiff City 1 vs 4 Middlesbrough | Southampton 0 vs 1 Stoke City | Queens Park Rangers 4 vs 0 Leeds United English Championship: Hull City 3 vs 3 Ipswich Town | Millwall FC 1 vs 0 Plymouth Argyle | Blackburn Rovers 0 vs 0 Coventry City | Watford 1 vs 0 Sunderland | Bristol City 2 vs 0 Rotherham United | Huddersfield Town 1 vs 1 Birmingham City | Sheffield Wednesday 3 vs 0 West Bromwich Albion | Norwich City 2 vs 2 Swansea City | Cardiff City 1 vs 4 Middlesbrough | Southampton 0 vs 1 Stoke City | Queens Park Rangers 4 vs 0 Leeds United Katima Mulilo: 13° | 30° Rundu: 13° | 31° Eenhana: 15° | 33° Oshakati: 17° | 32° Ruacana: 15° | 33° Tsumeb: 16° | 30° Otjiwarongo: 15° | 29° Omaruru: 16° | 32° Windhoek: 15° | 27° Gobabis: 15° | 28° Henties Bay: 20° | 33° Wind speed: 17km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:40, High tide: 05:39, Low Tide: 23:58, High tide: 18:14 Swakopmund: 18° | 25° Wind speed: 19km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:38, High tide: 05:37, Low Tide: 23:56, High tide: 18:12 Walvis Bay: 21° | 32° Wind speed: 25km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:38, High tide: 05:36, Low Tide: 23:56, High tide: 18:11 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 20° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 32° Aranos: 19° | 31° Lüderitz: 20° | 38° Ariamsvlei: 20° | 33° Oranjemund: 16° | 35° Luanda: 26° | 31° Gaborone: 13° | 26° Lubumbashi: 11° | 24° Mbabane: 9° | 23° Maseru: 11° | 24° Antananarivo: 15° | 22° Lilongwe: 15° | 26° Maputo: 16° | 27° Windhoek: 15° | 27° Cape Town: 14° | 23° Durban: 15° | 27° Johannesburg: 14° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 30° Lusaka: 14° | 25° Harare: 10° | 25° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.44 | EUR to NAD 20.1 | CNY to NAD 2.59 | USD to NAD 18.8 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.32 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.7 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.66 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.22 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.79 | USD to EGP 47.85 | USD to KES 134.48 | USD to NGN 1329.44 | USD to ZAR 18.78 | USD to ZMW 26.5 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 75370.99 Up +1.40% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1673.12 Up +1.85% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13354.97 Up +0.06% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 25917.59 Down -3.21% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9142.54 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 338.05/OZ UP +0.31% | Copper US$ 4.54/lb UP +0.71% | Zinc US$ 2 869.50/T UP 0.15% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 88.96/BBP UP +0.08% | Platinum US$ 913.47/OZ DOWN -0.0026 Sport results: Premier League: Nottingham Forest 0 vs 2 Manchester City | Bournemouth 3 vs 0 Brighton | Tottenham Hotspur 2 vs 3 Arsenal | Aston Villa 2 vs 2 Chelsea | Everton 1 vs 0 Brentford | Wolves 2 vs 1 Luton Town | Fulham 1 vs 1 Crystal Palace | Manchester United 1 vs 1 Burnley | Newcastle 5 vs 1 Sheffield United | West Ham 2 vs 2 Liverpool | Brighton 0 vs 4 Manchester City LaLiga: Villarreal 3 vs 0 Rayo Vallecano | Granada 3 vs 0 Osasuna | Cadiz 1 vs 1 Mallorca | Atletico Madrid 3 vs 1 Athletic Club | Deportivo Alaves 3 vs 0 Celta Vigo | Almería 1 vs 3 Getafe | Las Palmas 0 vs 2 Girona | Real Sociedad 0 vs 1 Real Madrid SerieA: Napoli 2 vs 2 AS Roma | Atalanta 2 vs 0 Empoli | Bologna 1 vs 1 Udinese | Inter Milan 2 vs 0 Torino | SS Lazio 1 vs 0 Hellas Verona | Juventus 0 vs 0 AC Milan | Lecce 1 vs 1 Monza | Frosinone 3 vs 0 Salernitana | Udinese 1 vs 2 AS Roma European Championships Qualifying: Hull City 3 vs 3 Ipswich Town | Millwall FC 1 vs 0 Plymouth Argyle | Blackburn Rovers 0 vs 0 Coventry City | Watford 1 vs 0 Sunderland | Bristol City 2 vs 0 Rotherham United | Huddersfield Town 1 vs 1 Birmingham City | Sheffield Wednesday 3 vs 0 West Bromwich Albion | Norwich City 2 vs 2 Swansea City | Cardiff City 1 vs 4 Middlesbrough | Southampton 0 vs 1 Stoke City | Queens Park Rangers 4 vs 0 Leeds United English Championship: Hull City 3 vs 3 Ipswich Town | Millwall FC 1 vs 0 Plymouth Argyle | Blackburn Rovers 0 vs 0 Coventry City | Watford 1 vs 0 Sunderland | Bristol City 2 vs 0 Rotherham United | Huddersfield Town 1 vs 1 Birmingham City | Sheffield Wednesday 3 vs 0 West Bromwich Albion | Norwich City 2 vs 2 Swansea City | Cardiff City 1 vs 4 Middlesbrough | Southampton 0 vs 1 Stoke City | Queens Park Rangers 4 vs 0 Leeds United Weather: Katima Mulilo: 13° | 30° Rundu: 13° | 31° Eenhana: 15° | 33° Oshakati: 17° | 32° Ruacana: 15° | 33° Tsumeb: 16° | 30° Otjiwarongo: 15° | 29° Omaruru: 16° | 32° Windhoek: 15° | 27° Gobabis: 15° | 28° Henties Bay: 20° | 33° Wind speed: 17km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:40, High tide: 05:39, Low Tide: 23:58, High tide: 18:14 Swakopmund: 18° | 25° Wind speed: 19km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:38, High tide: 05:37, Low Tide: 23:56, High tide: 18:12 Walvis Bay: 21° | 32° Wind speed: 25km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:38, High tide: 05:36, Low Tide: 23:56, High tide: 18:11 Rehoboth: 18° | 29° Mariental: 20° | 32° Keetmanshoop: 21° | 32° Aranos: 19° | 31° Lüderitz: 20° | 38° Ariamsvlei: 20° | 33° Oranjemund: 16° | 35° Luanda: 26° | 31° Gaborone: 13° | 26° Lubumbashi: 11° | 24° Mbabane: 9° | 23° Maseru: 11° | 24° Antananarivo: 15° | 22° Lilongwe: 15° | 26° Maputo: 16° | 27° Windhoek: 15° | 27° Cape Town: 14° | 23° Durban: 15° | 27° Johannesburg: 14° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 30° Lusaka: 14° | 25° Harare: 10° | 25° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.44 | EUR to NAD 20.1 | CNY to NAD 2.59 | USD to NAD 18.8 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.32 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.7 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.66 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.22 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.79 | USD to EGP 47.85 | USD to KES 134.48 | USD to NGN 1329.44 | USD to ZAR 18.78 | USD to ZMW 26.5 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 75370.99 Up +1.40% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1673.12 Up +1.85% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13354.97 Up +0.06% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 25917.59 Down -3.21% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9142.54 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 338.05/OZ UP +0.31% | Copper US$ 4.54/lb UP +0.71% | Zinc US$ 2 869.50/T UP 0.15% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 88.96/BBP UP +0.08% | Platinum US$ 913.47/OZ DOWN -0.0026