Treatment of the poor is sickening

Land reform minister Utoni Nujoma's attempt to distance himself from comments he made to a South African news channel is laughable at best. While being interviewed by eNCA during a programme that was aired last Thursday on the land question, Nujoma, who has consistently shied away from talking to local journalists, emphatically insinuated that poor Namibians are not capable of running expensive farms if granted the opportunity. Also during the interview, Nujoma made some startling remarks by suggesting that our freedom was negotiated and therefore compromises had to be made with the West and South African apartheid regime to grant Namibia independence, as guerrilla fighters were also tired of staying in the bush. There is no denying that a settlement had to be reached at the end of the day. What is clear now is that our people were out-negotiated, leaving economic power, which includes large tracts of land, firmly in the hands of the white minority. The black majority - even with political power now supposedly in their hands - are forced to fend for themselves, as our own leaders are not doing enough tackle social evils like poverty. If our leaders really identified themselves with the poor, we wouldn't be in a situation where unemployment is so rife in this country and thousands are languishing in poverty without a place to call home. Perhaps it is worth asking the question whether our leaders really care about the poor - the very same people that give them a mandate to lead - given the multiple social, economic and political challenges in our country. Poor people cannot just be good for voting politicians into power or the successful working of the land that still belongs to the minority white. The treatment of and contempt for the poor being blatantly perpetrated by the political elite is sickening in this country and therefore the argument advanced by those sitting petty, including some white farmers, that black Namibians can't make good farmers should be condemned. The dignity of our people will never be restored with such a disgusting attitude. Namibia needs selfless leaders who are pro-poor and can turn words into action.