EDITORIAL: Not even police are above the law
In 1215, the British adopted a document, Magna Carta, whose principle was that the king and his government were not above the law.
It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits on royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.
There was wisdom in that principle and it has saved humanity from itself. Yesterday’s events in Windhoek, where unemployed youth were teargassed and opposition politicians arrested, took us back to 1215.
If we have to go back to 808 years ago to find answers for a 2023 Namibian society, there’s real trouble brewing beneath our feet. Why are police trampling on the most fundamental rights of citizens, as enshrined under unamendable Chapter 3 of our constitution, by preventing jobless youths from holding a peaceful demonstration?
Who are the youth harming by simply using the symbolic Independence Day to remind their leaders that the dead martyrs of our revolution paid the ultimate price so that social justice prevails for all?
As if the draconian decision of the police was not political enough, our courts joined in by tearing up our constitution book in the faces of the desperate but peaceful youths.
To say marching yesterday was not urgent means our entire system believes the youth can wait longer to eat, to drink and to seek medical interventions – because these fundamental needs are fulfilled with financial resources, which the youth are stripped of.
It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits on royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.
There was wisdom in that principle and it has saved humanity from itself. Yesterday’s events in Windhoek, where unemployed youth were teargassed and opposition politicians arrested, took us back to 1215.
If we have to go back to 808 years ago to find answers for a 2023 Namibian society, there’s real trouble brewing beneath our feet. Why are police trampling on the most fundamental rights of citizens, as enshrined under unamendable Chapter 3 of our constitution, by preventing jobless youths from holding a peaceful demonstration?
Who are the youth harming by simply using the symbolic Independence Day to remind their leaders that the dead martyrs of our revolution paid the ultimate price so that social justice prevails for all?
As if the draconian decision of the police was not political enough, our courts joined in by tearing up our constitution book in the faces of the desperate but peaceful youths.
To say marching yesterday was not urgent means our entire system believes the youth can wait longer to eat, to drink and to seek medical interventions – because these fundamental needs are fulfilled with financial resources, which the youth are stripped of.
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Namibian Sun
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