We should be ashamed of ourselves!

If Namibia cannot, after 24 years of independence, manufacture nurses’ uniforms, as seems to be the suggestion by the health minister, then we should be ashamed of ourselves as a country. If the skills and capacity to manufacture such uniforms are available in the country but we opted to ignore our own industries and rather ‘look east’, then our government and its entire leadership must be ashamed of itself. We as a nation must look at ourselves in the mirror and answer the tough question of what we have been doing for 24 years if even the uniforms of our public workers are still being imported. If we can’t produce uniforms after 24 years of independence, how do we expect to become an industrialised nation in 16 years’ time – by 2030? There is admissible evidence that government continues to undermine the full potential of this country, especially with regard to manufacturing and industrialisation. While we acknowledge that there are health-sensitive specifications that have to be complied with when manufacturing nurses’ uniforms, it still defies logic that only the Chinese are wise enough to comply with such requirements. Essentially, we are flaunting to the world that Namibians – even with training – are so dull that we cannot master the art of producing uniforms for our own health professionals. Yet these are the basics which any nation striving for industrialisation must get right before starting to dream of an economy challenging for recognition and international accolades. The health ministry yesterday released a statement regarding this unfolding embarrassment and nowhere has it stated that Namibians were invited to try their luck at this multi-million-dollar project. It also does not state if a thorough hunt for local talent was undertaken before crossing oceans to Beijing and leaving our millions there for the supply of these uniforms. Like we stated above, if it is proven that indeed Namibia does not possess such capacity or skills after 24 years of independence, we can safely write ourselves off as a failed industrial nation. But if the Chinese trips were taken without any due diligence conducted to establish local capacity, those who entered into such agreements with the Chinese must answer the tough questions that the citizens of this country are currently asking. We are not garment experts but we do not need a brain surgeon to point out that contracting the Chinese for uniforms was a misplaced decision.