13 November 2007

Master of Ceremonies and Friends: I feel honored to be asked to launch the annual human rights report of NSHR for the period 1 August 2006 to 30 September 2007. I am launching this report in my personal capacity.

I have been following the work of NSHR in this country since the organization was established 18 years ago. I have often visited NSHR head office in Windhoek, first at Barnhof Street and now in John Meinert Street. I have also worked in the field with NSHR staff especially in the rural areas. The organization is in the hands of the ordinary Namibian men and women who have been motivated and empowered by their understanding of the Namibian Constitution and international instruments that Namibia has signed. These people are well disciplined, hard-working and dedicated to their work. They don't need supervision when working and stay on their work till the task is finished.

The central mission of NSHR is to monitor the overall human rights situation in the country, in the light of the various national and international instruments that the Namibian government has undertaken to uphold. Many governments, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, have led to their own failures by silencing the critical voices of the citizens. They established the one-party rule where civic organizations became domesticated and neutralized by affiliating to the ruling party and becoming part of government. The head of state has become an idol to be worshipped or a tyrant to be feared. The public media has become a toy of the ruling party, singing praises to the government and spreading cheap propaganda in favor of the ruling party functionaries. The ordinary citizens have been reduced to dancing before government and ruling party leaders and clapping hands whenever such leaders speak.

In the absence of any critical voices, governments tend to appropriate unto themselves the right to trample on the rights of the citizens, to loot public coffers and to mismanage the affairs of the country. Examples are many near and far, which have led to the retrogression in almost all sub-Saharan Africa countries

Master of Ceremonies and Friends, the people of Africa have danced long enough for dictators like Mobutu, Banda, Kenyatta, Bokassa, Idi Amin, Siad Barre, Sekou Toure, Karume, Babagida and others. What did they gain in the end after dancing and sweating in front of these men? The reward to the people of Africa was poverty, misery and hopelessness!

The difference between a true friend and a pretending friend is that the former would tell you the truth about yourself, while the latter would flatter and mislead you. The position of NSHR is to tell the Namibian government and the nation at large the hard truth of what was happening on the ground. In this way, NSHR is helping the Namibian government and the nation to avoid making blunders. We should admit the fact that NSHR is far ahead of us and is able to see what many a Namibian cannot see. If the Namibian government is sincere to comply with the Namibian Constitution and the international instruments it has signed, then the government has an ally in NSHR to rid this country of inefficiency and corruption and move it forward.

The anti-NSHR voices within the Namibian government and other instances who would prefer to run the country without being monitored, are from the people who are either ignorant or have something to hide. If these people's hostility towards NSHR is rooted in ignorance, they should ask my friend Joseph Amadhila. Before independence, Amadhila was a blind and fanatic follower of SWAPO and an arch-enemy of Phil ya Nangoloh who at that time was in the leadership of the Parents Committee. Amadhila was prepared to do bodily harm to Phil ya Nangoloh if opportunity would have allowed it. In 1988 Amadhila left the country with the aim of joining PLAN to help liberate Namibia. Ironically, he found himself in the dungeons of Lubango, accused of being a SA spy, undergoing systematic torture and being called all sorts of bad names. It was during this time that he came to realize the important work that a human rights organization was doing in a country. We have Amadhila in our midst today thanks to the implementation of the UN Resolution 435 the following year. However, if the anti-NSHR voices within government and other instances are from those who have something to hide, they should heed the wise words of Lubango missing detainee Gerald Tjozongoro. Gerald used to encourage his fellow dungeon-inmates not to despair because, according to him, the world was like the horns of a kudu. Though Gerald himself did not survive the dungeons, everyday we witness the inner meaning of his words.

Namibia is a democratic country, not a dictatorship where the citizens worship leaders. However, you still find Namibians showering empty praises on political leaders and dancing in front of them. What have Namibians gained during the last 17 years of dancing and sweating in front of politicians? NSHR annual report for 2007, that is going to be presented here shortly, highlights the combined Visitors' Opinion Assessment Register (VOAR) of Namibians who were polled in the areas of Windhoek, Katima Mulilo, Eenhana, Mariental, Opuwo, Oshakati and Rundu. These Namibians have clearly stated that unemployment is the biggest national problems facing the majority of Namibians today, followed by poverty and lack of access to water. This simply means that growing unemployment, wide-spreading poverty and the problem to have access to portable water are the rewards to the Namibians for their years of dancing and clapping hands for their leaders!

Naturally, leaders perform better when they know that they are being watched and are in those positions as long as the residents of that area or the citizens at large appreciate their service delivery. That is why in democratic societies, the citizens grill their leaders with all sorts of questions during public meetings to keep them on their toes. In this way, the leaders are compelled to deliver, otherwise they are voted out next time.

In the light of NSHR report for 2007, I would sincerely ask Namibians at all levels of our society to stop dancing before political leaders and instead establish platforms where they discuss seriously among themselves how to solve the problems facing the country. Ordinary Namibians should understand the strategic national development plans and how to make them a success particularly at the local level. If NDPs 1 & 2 were failures, then the current NDP3 will only succeed if the ordinary Namibians become active and informed part of its implementation. The same applies to the eight (8) UN Millennium Development Goals that Namibia has undertaken to realize by 2015. Namibia's NDPs and MDGs were supposed to be stepping stones to the realization of the objectives of Vision 2030. The success of Vision 2030 would depend on the success of the NDPs and MDGs and these two cannot succeed without the active and informed participation of the ordinary Namibians.

Namibians should form civic education platforms to discuss openly and freely what is going on in the country. From such discussions the citizens are then in a position to engage their leaders in serious dialogue how to tackle unemployment, poverty and lack of water. At the same time, I would also sincerely ask the church leaders and local pastors/priests in Namibia to open the doors of church buildings for the citizens to discuss issues concerning their country. During the pre-independence era, Döbra High School of the Roman Catholic Church has pointed out the way by opening its doors for Namibian students to hold their meetings there. Likewise, after independence, ELCIN-Oniipa has opened its doors for the Forum for the Future to hold its meetings there. For this country to make a difference in sub-Saharan Africa, the church in Namibia should always be on the side of the ordinary citizens and never allow itself to be influenced and controlled by the rich and the powerful in society

Going through the report of NSHR, it is pleasing to notice that an impressive number of Namibians have visited the organization's seven offices, including the head office in Windhoek, either sharing information or seeking assistance how to solve their problems. Those who could not visit these offices personally reached them telephonically. This all means that Namibians have come to know who is really there for their best interests and the best interests of the country. The report has concluded with the recommendations which the Namibian government should study and act upon

Finally, I am very encouraged to realize that many Namibians have started to think for themselves as individuals, and no more following blindly en masse. This is the only way we can build this country. I congratulate the staff of NSHR for the informative report and wish them to keep up the spirit of discipline, hard-work and dedication to a task at hand. With these words, NSHR report for the period 1 August 2006 to 30 September 2007 is launched and released to the public. I thank you!