Foreword by Andimba Toivo ya Toivo 10

Chapter 1: Who is Milton Louw? 12

Before I was born 12

Growing up 12

University Life 14

The Internal Struggle in the 1980's 15

Work Experience 16

Why Black Economic Empowerment is needed in Namibia 17

White business versus Black business 17

Consultancies 19

Family / Personal 20

Sport 20

Politics 20

Religion 21

Objectives 21

My Future 22

Chapter 2: Forming the future 23

Legislative 23

Problems with lawmaking 24

Making our laws – Namibian Parliament 25

Financing of Political Parties 25

Is there a need for another party in Namibia? 26

Judiciary 26

Small Claims Court 27

Minimum Knowledge for a Citizen 27

Creating a common memory for Namibians 28

We Remember: Before, Now, and Later 28

And what is it to be a good citizen? 29

Chapter 3: Improving services for Citizens 30

Planning a Government 31

Re-engineering the Public Service 31

Other Institutional Bodies 34

Anti-Corruption Commission 34

Study proves corruption is less profitable 35

Effective Programme against Corruption 35

Government Service Directories 35

E-governance in Namibia 36

Chapter 4: A Central Register for Namibia 37

Central Register for Namibia 37

Register of Residents 37

Register of Marriage Contracts 38

Register of Business 39

Register of Professions 39

Register of Property Ownership (land & vehicles) 39

Land Register 39

Vehicle Register 40

Register of Licences for Natural Resources and Utilisation 40

Register of Trademarks, Patents and Copyright 40

Register of External Trade 40

Register of Court Sentences, Proceedings, Declarations 40

Register of Bankruptcies and Insolvencies 41

Register of other legal entities 41

Register of Wills 41

How will a Central Register help the economy grow? 41

Legislation for informational privacy 42

Data Protection Act 42

Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 43

Freedom of Access to Information Act 43

Need for Credit Bureau Legislation in Namibia 43

A new look at credit law 46

Preparation for the creation of a business information system for Namibia 46

Background 46

Training in Creditreform Düsseldorf 47

National Awareness 47

Legislation 48

Clients 48

National Credit Register 48

Conclusion 49

Chapter 5: Neighbours and Friends 50

Can friends criticise? 50

Promoting Foreign Investment 51

Creation of the Offshore Development Company (ODC) 51

Our Big Brother – South Africa 53

The Bad 54

The Difficult 54

The Foreign Experts 54

Getting help in growing our economy 55

Namibia and BRICSA 55

Our relationship to China 56

Market Branding Namibia 57

Chapter 6: Working together 58

The past is with us 58

Workers 59

Managers as workers 59

Employees and their Unions 60

IT Workers 60

Unions today 61

Employers 61

The future between Employers and Employees 62

Increasing employment - the Government dilemma 62

The Age Difference – Generation gap 63

ACORN Imperatives 63

How do we classify Namibian by age group? 65

Human Resources Definitions 66

Chapter 7: Trade and Industry 67

Promoting Innovation 67

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 68

SME Assessment Study recommendations 69

Namibia-wide Business Census 69

NamBizDotCom Surveys 70

Entrepreneurship Myths 72

Entrepreneurial Development in Namibia 72

Enterprise Namibia Foundation 73

What are the Entrepreneurial Skills? 73

Strategy for SME Development 74

Entrepreneur Identification Programme 74

One-Stop Shops 75

Super's Theory 75

Industrial Development 76

Build Operate Transfer 77

Chapter 8: Learning throughout our lives 79

Foundation of Education 79

Primary Education 79

Information and Communication Technologies 79

Influence of teachers 79

Education in Ethics 80

Private Institutions of Learning 81

Life-Long Learning 82

Traditional or Protean Career Paths 83

Chapter 9: Using our Resources 84

Utilising our land 84

Morning exercise shared with the animals 84

Legitimate selling of Game meat 85

Agriculture 85

Tourism 86

Lodge Couples 87

Internet and Tourism 87

Mining 87

Fisheries 89

Chapter 10: Information and Communication Technology 91

Role of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies 91

Telephony and Cellular Communications 91

Number Portability 93

Newer and newer technology 93

E-commerce 94

ICT in Namibia 95

Chapter 11: Stay Healthy, live longer 97

To Brad and Angelina, a girl, born in Namibia. 97

Healthcare in Namibia 97

Electronic Patient Records 98

Financing the Healthcare programme 98

National Pension Plan 98

Chapter 12: Crime and Punishment 99

Effective combating of crime 99

Prostitution 101

Chapter 13: Sharing the wealth 102

Local Economic Development (LED) 102

Local Service Directory 104

Chapter 14: It belongs to all of us 106

State-Owned Enterprises 106

Chapter 15: Everything is business 108

I am a business 108

Business Organisations in Namibia 109

Chapter 16: Non-Government Organisations 111

Not-for-profit can still be a business 111

Chapter 17: Put money under the mattress 113

Understanding Banking 113

The downside of Credit 114

Training of Debt Counsellors 115

A new look at credit law 116

Consumer Rights 117

Legal Insurance for Namibians 118

What can consumers do? 119

Chapter 18: Who am I? Who R U? 121

Differences in Namibia 122

On being Coloured 123

Rights of women 124

Rights of Children 125

Rights of the elderly 127

Integration 129

Levels of integration 129

Personal Acceptance 130

Marriage 131

Neighbourhood / Local integration 131

National Integration 131

Regional Integration 132

International 132

Namibia and Integration 132

Chapter 19: Namibia Today, Tomorrow 133

Chapter 20: The Future 136

Creating a better future, Today 137

Annexure 139

What is IT and ICT? 139

Public Access to ICT’s 140

Introduction 140

Methodology 140

Findings 140

Success Factors 140

Recommendations 141

Rights of victims 141

Quotes that inspired me 145

Back of the book 150

Endnotes 151

Foreword by Andimba Toivo ya Toivo

I feel very much honoured to be asked to write a foreword to this book by a political and economic researcher about our country and our times. The author of this book has spent many years studying the political and economic set up of our country. In my opinion, he has come up with many constructive ideas that can contribute to Namibia’s development.

During the liberation struggle, we were building our sand castles and dreaming of how we wanted an independent Namibia to be. After we took the reins of power, we realized that it was not so easy to realize our dreams. It became apparent that even if the leaders of the government have good ideas, they cannot implement programmes and projects alone, but must rely on the commitment of civil servants to work in the interest of the Namibian people. As we set about to transform a system that has been based upon apartheid and colonialism, we were also challenged to transform the thinking of some staunch supporters of the old regime whom we had inherited as civil servants. These were not easy tasks, and we undoubtedly made mistakes. This was to be expected, because in life, one cannot completely avoid mistakes, and as politicians, we had no formula for how to build a prosperous and stable new nation.

One of our biggest shortcomings is that we have not been able to develop our economy to provide sufficient employment opportunities for our young people. It is pathetic to drive around the streets and to see young people standing along the side of the road from early morning, waiting for a Good Samaritan to give them any type of work. It is also disturbing that even some young people who have obtained university qualifications, either in Namibia or abroad, are not productively employed.

We know that this problem cannot be solved simply be ensuring that employers have capital and equipment to build their businesses. Their business cannot grow without appropriately-skilled workers. It is obvious that we must think “out of the box” and test new solutions to the problems of unemployment and underdevelopment in order to eradicate the plague of poverty in a country that has every possibility of becoming prosperous.

Fortunately, we have intellectuals outside the government who follow national developments closely and with a critical eye. The author of this book is one such person. Milton Louw has been observing and studying the progress made by political leaders of our country and has now come forward to share his insights and recommendations for governance, economic and social development and for how to avoid mistakes in the future. I am proud that we have Namibians who have the courage and the discipline to develop their ideas and to bring them to a public arena for consideration.

I am particularly impressed that Mr. Louw has made proposals for: greater transparency in governance; education of young people in morality and ethical behaviour; expansion of consumer rights; promotion of information and communications technology; measures to nurture entrepreneurism and to support business development; and strengthened social protection of vulnerable people. Because he is outside government, he may not be aware that some of his proposals are similar to government initiatives already in operation or in preparation.

We need not agree with every aspect of Mr. Louw`s broad-ranging analysis or with all his proposals in order to benefit from his ideas. I recommend that readers, including present and future political leaders, consider his ideas in the open manner that he has presented them. I hope that this will encourage more Namibians to bring to the public their ideas and proposals for how to better build our nation, though writing books and opinion articles and through scholarly research.

I commend Milton Louw for his efforts and hope that many will follow his example.

Andimba Toivo ya Toivo

13 May 2011

Chapter 1: Who is Milton Louw?

Before I was born

I was almost born a bastard. My parents got married less than two months before I was born. My mother, Pamela Du Preez, was a music teacher and my father, William Peter Louw, was just finishing school. They had met at a school in Athlone in the Cape Province of South Africa. However, once my mother was pregnant, they moved to Windhoek where my father’s parents stayed. I was born on the 28^th of December 1969 in Windhoek.

My past is rather a difficult one, in that much of it has been kept a secret from me. Only recently I found out, my father, the second of two sons, was not yet born when his father, a white man with the surname Oosthuizen, deserted my coloured grandmother (née Plaatjies). My father grew up with his maternal aunt who was married to a Louw, the surname he eventually adopted.

The family histories before this are also quite interesting. My maternal family goes back for eleven generations to when the first Du Preez got off the boat in Cape Town. Funnily enough, this forefather of mine had his son sentenced to exile in Mauritius because of political differences with the then Cape Governor. (He was released before being deported.)

On my father’s side, his grandmother was coloured and married to a white man. To my knowledge, they had fourteen children and most of their dependants still stay in Windhoek and Walvis Bay. Some of my father’s family include Oosthuizen, Plaatjies, Strauss, Green, Louw and Solomon.

As for me, I can tell you very little else, suffice to say, I know almost none of my Bantu grandmothers. It seems the history of my white forefathers overshadows theirs.

In a more serious vein, this problem often occurs even today in our society because most of our Bantu tribes did not have written histories. It is a pity as I would like to have known more about these women who have so greatly influenced my past, and the way I see the future.

Growing up

My mother and father lived in Windhoek until I was around 4 years old. My father had been working as an apprentice with the John Meinert Printing Company when he got into trouble with the law. One of the white female employees of the company used to drive the employees home after the evening shift and she would first drop of the black employees and then drop my father off last in Khomasdal, the coloured township. Unfortunately one night the police stopped the vehicle and were scandalised that a white women was alone with a non-white man after dark. My father had no choice but to leave the country after this incident. We moved to Pietermaritzburg in the Natal Province of South Africa where my mother passed away in 1975.

When you are faced with a sad event in your life, you often blame God or the fates and cry “Why me?” Sad though this moment was in my life, looking back I realise that this created certain opportunities that would not have been there if I grew up in a traditional nuclear family. The most important of these was that my brother, sister and I were brought up my grandparents in the city of Johannesburg, rather than returning with my father to Windhoek.

In Johannesburg, we lived on the 12^th floor of an apartment block called Darragh House belonging to the Anglican Church, right next door to St. Mary's Cathedral. Desmond Tutu (who became Archbishop) was our landlord at the time and the apartment block was a venue for non-racial meetings in the 1970s and ‘80s. This was my first brush with the apartheid struggle though I understood little about it at the time.

I was most fortunate to be enrolled in a private school belonging to the Seventh Day Adventist Church and even more fortunate to be in a class of only five students – the norm was around fifteen students per class. This gave me an unparalleled head start in my learning career.

My grandparents moved to the suburbs of Alberton in 1979 and by the time I completed my primary school I was the Head-boy of the white school.

Unfortunately, I became a small-time thief and was quite regularly on the lookout for things I could steal. In 1985 I stole a wallet and found a bank card with the pin code on it. I withdrew some money and had a ball of a time. Being rather stupid, I also bought a computer on the credit card, AND, then had them deliver this computer to my home address!

Needless to say, I got caught and sentenced to 5 lashes with a light cane. I also had to leave Johannesburg and went to stay with my father in Windhoek. Once again something bad happened, but a new direction for my life was just around the corner.

When I started school at Dawid Bezuidenhout High School in 1986, it was just the beginning of the internal resistance by the pupils in South West Africa against the colonial Apartheid regime of South Africa. Coming from Johannesburg with a crime record made me an easy recruit for one of the leaders in the protests.

Luckily, I finished my schooling in 1987 with a high enough average to enter University; even though I was not able to speak Afrikaans when I arrived and all my subjects were taught in Afrikaans. Also, I was most fortunate to meet the most beautiful, kind girl in the whole world and she was my girlfriend for the last year of school. Even after twenty years, I can still say I love her, but that is for another story.

It was during my last year at school that I also found my second and still true love, “The written word.” It started as an expression of my feelings for my girlfriend through poetry, then to printing a school newspaper allowing us to see each other after school. Till today, I feel honoured to be able to write for the pleasure and enjoyment of others.

Here is one of my first attempts at poetry with a meaning:

My Philosophy on Life

What is the meaning of life?

If you know please tell me:-

Some say it’s finding a compatible wife

Others: knowing how to help those in strife.

To me it means; - (1) being able to love

And having some special to receive it;

(2) Being able to worship the One above;

And (3) being remembered by those you love.

I’ve seen people trying the first and last

But never caring much for the second

As they want to live in the lane marked fast

And in so doing never really achieve happiness that can last

My next question would then naturally be

What are we doing to find meaning in life?

Why I ask is quite simple see,

Cause everyone only cares for “I; Myself and Me”

So how do I achieve it you ask?

I’m not sure but I’m trying real hard

And I must admit it’s quite a hard task

But I’ll keep with it till I’m put in a cask.

So why don’t we all try

To achieve these three ideals

Cause then there’ll be much less reason to cry

And none of us with the Devil will have to fry!!

The following section was added after the Foreword was written by Hon. Toivo ya Toivo. It was on the occasion of the 21^st Birthday celebrations of Namibia's Independence.

University Life

Upon entering my first year at University (then called the Academy), it was clear theirs was a racial divide on campus. Most students would be sitting in groups of whites, or coloureds, damaras, girls, boys, etc. I was fortunate to befriend students who saw past these barriers and were intent upon their studies, and could debate on the politics of the day. In fact, we became part of the debates within the leadership and would often find ourselves in the minority on some of the issues when a vote was taken.

In one of the first votes, I remember being on the losing side – the debate was on the language used in the classes. For me, and my friends, we were sufficiently proficient in English and managed well. But some of our fellow students came from Afrikaans schools and sometimes struggled with the English. The Namibia National Student's Organisation (NANSO) insisted on English only and we were outvoted. Funnily enough, all my classes were in English anyway in the science faculty.

However, within the first three months of 1988, the situation had deteriorated within schools throughout the country due to the army camps being built next to school. The biggest issues were the prevention of students attending classes and the regular rape or molestation of students by the South Africa army personnel.

This led to a consolidation of all students country-wide – including our students at the Academy.

The Internal Struggle in the 1980's

During the 1980’s the battle for the hearts of the Namibian people was being fought. The PLAN combatants were waging war with their Angolan, Cuban and Russian allies, but this was taking place outside the borders of the country. Inside the country, the battle was in the form of protest and civil disobedience.

The internal struggle included famous Namibians such as Hendrik Witbooi, Danny Tjongarero, Niko Bessinger, Anton Lubowski, John Pandeni and Ben Ulenga. They were harassed, beaten and arrested continuously by the South African regime.

However, the regime felt it was winning. They had created ethnic authorities and many of these leaders had convinced the people of the need for managed democracy versus the communist take-over by SWAPO.

All that changed when the students started participating in the struggle. In 1987, the police were unable to control and prevent the students from running through Katutura and Khomasdal, with some of the marchers reaching the central business district. By mid 1988, the South African regime and their puppet government was losing control. Over 75 000 school students were boycotting schools throughout the country in protest at the South African army and police repressions. The boycotts began at the Ponhofi Secondary School in Ovamboland.

Laws such as the Protection of Fundamental Rights Act (No. 16 of 88) were being used to prevent the gathering of any kind. This specific law was contested by the Namibian National Students Organisation and others and was found to be unconstitutional. This legal battle is still used around the world when discussing human rights as it "creates criminal offences for activities which in democratic societies have been perfectly acceptable and legal."ⁱ

In legal literature, “The period of 1985 to Independence … an historical prelude because it arguably sets the stage for the constitutional development that followed Independence.”ⁱⁱ

Unfortunately, this internal struggle for Independence has largely been neglected during our literature. However, these students of this period are now starting to actively once again participate in the socio-political sphere, especially via Facebook and other social online media sites where they have a large influence among their peers, and the youth.

So once again, in 1988 I found myself in jail, this time for political reasons. The police arrested 37 students and kept the women in Windhoek, while the men were taken to Seeis. I will always remember my comrades from these days with great fondness. It was a time when I came to truly appreciate how valuable support is for one's own well-being.

The picture on the front of the book was taken upon our release.

Work Experience

After leaving the Academy of Tertiary Education (without completing my degree), I spent two years gaining experience in computing hardware, and started my own company. Being a non-white business in this field in Namibia was extremely difficult, and I became a member of the Windhoek Business Chamber - essentially a black chamber of commerce. I provided my services free of charge to this body as well as the umbrella organisation for chambers in Namibia, the Namibia National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NNCCI).

At this time, the white businesses belonged to the Windhoek Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) and the emerging businesses as well as some long-standing anti-apartheid businesses such as Woermann & Brock, joined the newly created NNCCI. The government was supportive of the NNCCI, but also wanted to see a united private sector voice.

The Secretary General at the time, Mr. Peter Bond, requested my assistance in the development of the chamber newsletter, the Namibia Business Journal, which was envisaged as monthly business publication for Namibian companies. I was later invited to join the staff during 1991 and had overall responsibility as editor as well as spearheading the membership drive.

The core leadership (mostly comprising business personalities that were in the country during the liberation struggle) realised in these early years that there was first a need to encourage returning business personalities to also become part of the movement. This “internal” business community consisted of names such as Matheus Shikongo, Navin Morar, Christie Bendade, Rick Kukuri, Oscar Norich, etc. spent their own money and lots of volunteer time to make the chamber movement a success.

To develop this united black business front, it was decided to identify the business leaders within the returning Namibians. I was privileged to meet many of these personalities and was especially impressed by the woman in business such as Joan Guriras, Sandy Tjitendero and Anne Gebhardt.

By the end of 1992, consultative meetings were at an advanced stage but some of the participants on both sides still distrusted each other. For me the pivotal point was when, as the Acting-Secretary General (for a period of three months during 1993 while the post was vacant), I received a personal letter from the State President, Sam Nujoma. He requested me to nominate business leaders to travel with him on an investment promotion tour of the Scandinavian countries. With the letter, he requested, “... and for lack of a better word, also white business representatives to accompany me...”.

Without approaching the Executive committee, and only consulting the President, I nominated a number of business personalities, including Mr. Harald Pupkewitz. I shall never forget him calling me personally to grill me about my family before accepting the invitation. This extended trade mission allowed many of the business leaders to interact with the new government, as well as black business representatives. This led to a much greater understanding between the parties.

Upon their return, all of these businesses, most notably Mr. Pupkewitz, supported a united chamber movement. It was thus only a formality before we had a single voice for business.

I worked in almost all departments at the NNCCI, and was trained during this period by an ex-patriate consultant in

• small business development;

• institutional development (policies and procedures);

• human resources management; and

• how to develop, and find funding, for developmental projects.

My last position was that of Head: Communications and Information - this was one of the developmental projects I jointly developed and submitted for funding.

Why Black Economic Empowerment is needed in Namibia

White business versus Black business

Namibia has gone through various political changes over the past two centuries. One thing however is always constant. Once the political change occurs, there is a realisation that political independence means very little without economic ownership change. When the English ruled over Southern Africa, they had the economic might. The Afrikaner took over and had to create state institutions such as the “Eerste Nasionale Ontwikkelings Korporasie” (ENOK or First National Development Corporation) to allow Afrikaner businesspersons to get a share of the economic pie. They also created other institutions that should be supported by their people to become as powerful as the English ones, for example banks and insurance companies (Sanlam, Santam, etc.).

In much the same way, the black people of Namibia need to become participants in the economy. The first efforts were made in the early 1990’s to unite the two chambers of commerce, namely the Windhoek CCI and Windhoek Business Chamber. This resulted in the Namibia National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the predecessor of the present NCCI.

This was one of the most challenging times in my working life. The mistrust of decades had to be plastered over for the sake of the country and our newly created democracy. We succeeded.

HOWEVER, we only plastered over the problem. The black majority is still not participating in the meaningful way promised by the politicians. Or for that matter, the way the previous English and Afrikaner political movements allowed their voters to prosper.

In 1994, I was offered the job as the Namibian Delegate to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s Investment Promotion Service in Paris, France. The Delegate of each country represented is responsible for:

• investment promotion campaigns;

• project development;

• preparation of feasibility studies;

• management of programme budgets; and

• joint-venture project development.

During this period, I had an opportunity to study and learn about the investment strategies of amongst others, Mauritius, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Algeria, Madagascar, Vietnam and Chile. Most of my colleagues were highly educated economists and were attached by their governments from planning or trade and industry ministries. Their experience and willingness to share were invaluable to me coming from a newly liberated country, and me personally having no qualifications in this field! They encouraged me to study Namibia's history and specifically the business strategies of the previous administrations. It was during this period, that I had an opportunity to meet many of the business leaders from the Namibian fishing, agriculture and mining sectors and benefit from their knowledge and experience.

The most important lesson I learnt was that Namibia is competing in the international arena and we would not be given special treatment for very long.

In April 1996, the Minister of Trade and Industry offered me a position as the understudy to the CEO of the Offshore Development Company (ODC). The ODC is responsible for the promotion and regulation of the export processing zone regime, as well as the provision of infrastructure for EPZ enterprises. My duties included:

• the mapping out and implementing of effective promotions and marketing strategies for EPZ investments;

• the publication of information on EPZ investments in Namibia;

• the production of film and video presentation of the EPZ investment opportunities;

• the briefing of investors and visiting delegations on the investment potential;

• responsibility for all written and verbal inquiries on EPZ investment opportunities;

• the organisation of EPZ investment seminars locally and abroad;

• evaluating investment proposals and preparing investment evaluation reports; and

• overall responsibility of all EPZ applications, from initial inquiry to implementation of investment.

I became the Managing Director of Hani A.Z. Yamani Investments (a major shareholder of the ODC) in October 1997. HAZY Investments is a trans-national corporation based in Cyprus and invests in:

1. tourism

2. air transport (passenger and air cargo)

3. energy; and

4. investment and procurement.

As the MD for Angola, Namibia and South Africa, I was a director of the ODC, Kalahari Express Airlines, and the Hope Foundation.

During my working career, I have assisted the NCCI as a volunteer and I became an Executive Committee Member of the NCCI for the period 1997-99.

In June 2000, I launched NamBizDot.Com, a company providing business information on Namibian business entities. The database of over 10,000 companies has been contracted by the NCCI, Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), and Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) amongst others. In addition, the company had a contract for 2001, with the Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) to represent their export products in Namibia.

From July 2002 until August 2003, my time was spent in Düsseldorf, Germany learning the language and developing a business plan for the creation of a credit rating and business reporting company for Namibia.

Upon returning to Namibia, I developed the NAMBIZ directory, a comprehensive printed directory of all Namibian companies. The first directory was printed in 2004 and 7,000 copies distributed. This was made possible through the assistance of SMEs Compete, an USAID funded initiative.

For three years (2006-2008), I was very fortunate to be a consultant trainer at the Institute for Information Technology (IIT). My experience and knowledge allowed me to assist the students with the following subjects for the Cambridge International Business Diploma:

• Business Organisation

• Effective Business Communication

• Finance

• Human Resources Management

• Marketing

Consultancies

In 1999, I accepted my first consultancy through my company IT Communications, at the NCCI as the consultant for chamber development. My responsibilities included the recruitment of new members, establishment of business councils and branch offices and the enhanced participation of black business in the chamber movement.

Since June 2000, I have been doing consulting work, primarily for companies interested in investing in Namibia, for example Botswana and Mauritius.

I have also assisted in the following consultancies:

• The ECA/IDRC Pan-African Initiative on e-Commerce (2001)

• SME Service Providers Directory of Namibia for the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) (2002);

• “An Overview of Public ICT Access Points in Namibia” - University of Washington, Center for Information & Society (2008)

For the period 2006-2008, I was also fortunate to be working with the ICT Alliance of Namibia as a part-time employee. In August 2007, I assisted in the report for the “Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development”.

Since 2009, I have been involved in consumer activism and the promotion of a consumer charter for business. This led to the creation of the Namibia Consumer Protection Group in 2010. In addition, I have been most fortunate to be appointed by the Polytechnic of Namibia as a part-time lecturer in ICT training for government employees.

My working life is now dedicated to the creation of an economic database of Namibia. This project started for me in 1988, and hopefully will be completed in my lifetime.

Family / Personal

I have been very blessed in my personal life with women who have loved me and five wonderful daughters who still love me. After leaving my studies, I got married in 1991, was married for 10 years, and had two children, Mikaila and Ziana. I was unfortunately not at home a lot and really missed some of the important experiences in my daughters’ lives. Around the time, my daughters started attending school I realised that they were more important than chasing after “fool’s gold” and tried to spend more time by taking and fetching them from school.

I have another daughter, Michelle with a very warm and loving person who still supports my efforts until today. I am very close to her older two daughters, Charmelle and Sherizaan, and they make up my family of five.

Looking back, I would not have done anything different. I just hope that my children realise that some of the things I did were important for what I believe the future should be for them, and all the other children of Namibia.

Today I can say with pride that every opportunity the daughters get they spend with me. It is sometimes a bit crowded with all five using the bathroom, doing their hair, having boyfriends visit, etc. but we have an open and trusting relationship.

I pray that this will always be.

“Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices calling him father!” - Lydia Maria Child

Sport

When I was growing up sport played an important role in our school lives. During primary school, I learnt to swim and played cricket as well as rugby. At high school, I played table tennis and volleyball. Unfortunately, I was not very good at any of these sports.

At University, I was lucky to be friends with a group of students who decided to play handball. Our team was about middle of the league, and it was fun to spend our spare time practising and occasionally winning. It taught me that it is not always the most important thing to win, but rather enjoy the game.

As I do not watch much television other than the news channels, I also am not a very big spectator in sports. However, I am a Liverpool fan when it comes to English League soccer. What can I say, “You never walk alone….”

In our family, my sister is the one interested in sports. She has made a career out of it and now works for Formula One (2009).

Politics

When I started writing this book, I often thought how to tackle the issue of politics, and especially my affiliation or specific party support. After all, “your vote is you secret”.

I have been a supporter of the SWAPO Party since 1988. At the time, it was still before Independence and I was involved in resurrecting the party in Khomasdal with people such as Danny Tjongarero, Dr. Kupido, Bobby Sissing, amongst others. Since then I have supported the party through my vote but have not taken an active role.

I do not wish to make statements on party politics but rather would tell you a story about a friend of mine. We often meet during weekends, discuss various issues of the day, and if possible have a sing-along. Recently, we were asked our opinions of the various new parties and the reaction by SWAPO. He answered, “What is SWAPO? I am SWAPO. Nothing outside of me is SWAPO. What I do is what SWAPO does.”

Therefore, regardless of which party I belong to or which one I vote for, that party must be one that makes a difference in my own life, as well as brings improvement for my country.

As I now enter my “naughty-forties”, I however believe it is important for me to once again become involved in the grassroots of SWAPO and have been appointed in May 2011 as the Secretary for the Klein Windhoek & Avis Section.

Religion

I am a Christian. My family belongs to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. A number of my family are Pastors or Deacons and some have even helped to establish new branches of the church. I accepted Christ and was baptised when I was 13 years old. (Our church believes in adult immersion baptism.)

I attended our private church school for the first five years and our class had only five scholars. This was an incredibly good start on education. Our family switched of all outside influences such as Television, radio, etc., for 24 hours from the sunset on a Friday to sunset on the Sabbath to enable us to commune with God. This taught me the value of family time and inner meditation. It was also expected of each of us to read the Bible and recite passages from it at our Sabbath School.

As the years have passed, I have become less faithful to the tenets of our faith, and would thus call myself a non-practising Adventist.

Normally, this information is private and not of use in such a book. However, this upbringing has had a fundamental influence on my life.

In my growing years, the teaching of ethics and ability to make moral decisions was left to the family and the church. As the church plays less of a role in our lives today, this influence has been lost. It will have to fall on the shoulder of the state to include ethics and moral education in our schools.

Objectives

My objectives are:

• Through my training at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in France and my experience at the Offshore Development Company and Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, assist in the development of the public and private sector institutions in Namibia to better serve and assist in the economic development;

• To promote investment opportunities in Namibia to attract investment which will alleviate unemployment and generate foreign exchange; and

• To provide through my experience and expertise, assistance in the development of Namibia and its people.

My long-term goal is to create an Economic Database for Namibia that can be used for entrepreneur identification, credit provision and economic statistics. To achieve this goal, I have created an Economic Database, containing both company and consumer information.

My Future

Looking back at my life (I am only half way to wherever), I see many things I am proud of, and many things I would change if I had the chance again. Perhaps it is best summed up by the following poem I wrote in 2005.

The Leftist Capitalist

Was all I learnt a waste

No!

I grew up knowing nothing, feeling hurt

Made to learn to appreciate

Thank you teachers one and all

From the first who loved me – till the last

Now I understand the burden

The one of the leftist capitalist

Get paid for what you do well

Neither under or over – charge

Earn fairly, pay slightly better

Enjoy the fruits of your labour

Yet bury the seeds.

By being happy that you are moneyed

You give back equally.

Try to teach another, to be us lucky as You!

Chapter 2: Forming the future

It was 06H00 on 21 March 1990, the first day of Namibian Independence. The sun was shining brightly over Windhoek and the anthem “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” was playing. I was standing in the parking lot of the Academy of Tertiary Education (now where the Polytechnic of Namibia is), and slowly raising the Namibian flag for the first time over the capital. What a memory, what an honour.

Until today, whenever I see the National Flag being raised or lowered, I stand still and take a few moments to consider the promise of a new country and its opportunities as promised on the 21^st of March 1990.

Looking back, I must wonder how many of the children born today will benefit from the “fruits of our freedom”?

I can categorically state that most of my generation have benefited greatly BUT must also admit that the young generation of today have been done in.

Recently, I was fortunate to talk to one of my mentors and idols, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, and was once again humbled when he indicated his pleasure in hearing that I am teaching some of the knowledge I have acquired to the young generation of today. (I used to sometimes look down on the "teaching profession" of Namibia - now no more!)

So my challenge to you all of us:

What have you done lately to give back to your community?

Viva Namibia, Viva Responsibility!

In this Chapter, I look at the Legislative and Judicial branches of the Namibian State and give my opinions of some of the changes we might make.

Legislative

Laws govern Namibia as a country. Our constitution is a model for creating peace and stability. The policy of reconciliation and the principle of equality before the law is something we have to be proud of.

The law is thus also the way in which we determine the future of our country. Because we are looking for an African solution to our problems, it is perhaps also interesting to look at law from a traditional African perspective. In a recent article, I read, it stated that there are two broad categories within traditional law, namely Natural Law and People’s Law.

“Natural Law describes the way things are in the natural world; People’s law governs the action of people. Natural laws just exist, and are they evolving. Movement towards balance and diversity are examples of natural laws. Communities living close to the land simply experienced them, and passed knowledge of their workings through the generations in song, myths and dance.

People’s law is decided in a political process.

The law of technology is less well-known. These laws inform human interactions with nature. The law of technology is about transformation, and is closely tied to the use of fire and everything that derives from it.

.. Western man desired the progress of technology without the context of responsibility. Unlike the classic Western divide between science and church, technology and its moral context, traditional Africa never separated these things.

.. In African terms, man once was governed by natural law; in becoming human, he created people’s law, but his growing dependence on technology caused him to lose his intuitive grasp of natural limits.”ⁱⁱⁱ

Problems with lawmaking

The time it takes to get a bill through our governments and then parliamentary system is too long. Let us look at the Information and Telecommunications Bill.

The first consultative process started in 1999 with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication (MWTC), and the Namibian Communications Commission (NCC). MIB was the line Ministry for Radio and Television, MWTC was responsible for Telecommunications and NCC is the regulating authority.

The Bill was discussed in various public forum and the private sector and business organisations were invited to comment. The state-owned enterprises that were regulated by the old Act(s) were however not happy with the proposed changes, and specifically the allowing of competition. This held the Bill up for over 7 years.

The Ministry of Information again called a consultative meeting in 2006 to complete the process and have a document for submission to Parliament. After the submission by the stakeholders, the Bill was once again distributed for comment. By July 2007, the Cabinet of Namibia instructed the Ministry of Justice to complete the Bill and “submit it to Parliament by 12 September 2007.

In the early part of 2008, the Communications Department was moved to the renamed Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies. This meant that all the various parties’ interests were now housed in one Ministry. The newly appointed Minister promised the Bill would be tabled within the year.

The Bill was submitted to Parliament in June 2009. However, the Minister included a rather controversial clause (dubbed the “Spy Clause”), that included interception centres. The Bill has been accepted in October 2009 even though there was a huge public outcry over certain of these interception regulations.

Thus, ten years passed without this crucial legislation that regulates broadcasting, telecommunications and postal services. Now, we have to wait for the laws on Electronic Transaction and Privacy Protection. These are already in the pipeline since 2005.

Making our laws – Namibian Parliament

As a nation, we must understand and respect the institutions that propose debate and make our laws. Too many times, I have heard people say, “These politicians – they are only in it for what they can get”. The Parliament has as its duty the education of the citizens in how we can make use of them to improve our daily lives. Essentially, I would like to see private citizens being able to propose laws to their representatives and have these submitted in Parliament. Unfortunately most of us accept that our laws are submitted by bureaucrats (government employees) working under the orders of the Minster involved. Thus in fact not separating the executive from the legislature, but rather having the parliament become a rubber stamp for decisions made by the ruling party and its ministers.

We also have to recognise that being a Member of Parliament is a way for an individual to contribute his or her experience for the improvement of our country, rather than a career path. In recent times, we have seen young people become members of parliament only to be caught up in acts that bring disrepute to the institution. This can only be corrected if members of parliament have reached a certain amount of material independence to allow them to vote for what they think is right, and not what will ensure their present income.

I propose the Parliament Administration create a school for potential parliamentarians. This can be done during the recess periods and will allow interested persons to gain first-hand experience on what would be expected from them if they enter the Parliament.

Financing of Political Parties

The political parties in Namibia play a very important role in our democracy. Most parties have difficulty in financing their activities and Government has since 1997 been funding parties represented in the National Assembly.

A study was done in 2004 entitled “The life of the Party: Hidden Role of Money in Namibian Politics” by Martin Boer of IPPR.

He recommends:

• Government should draft a white paper or even an Act laying out specific rules and guidelines surrounding political party financing.

• The Auditor-General should be given wider power to be able to enforce the requirement that political parties must submit audited accounts.

The study concludes by pointing to two problems Namibia needs to resolve: making parties more transparent and accountable, and finding a way for opposition parties to receive a larger amount of state funding.

It ends with “…Political parties themselves should be more proactive in their efforts to seek funds and to find alternative sources of income beyond the Government. Finally, members of political parties, at the very least, should be pushed to pay their dues, volunteer and to help raise money for the party. Democracy by its very nature requires the support of its citizens. It would not be fair to lay the burden of democracy on only the Government itself.”

I concur wholeheartedly. Even though SWAPO does get the majority of the votes, it is of cardinal importance that we support a healthy opposition in the country.

Is there a need for another party in Namibia?

This question came up recently in a discussion that was proposing a "Workers Party" for Namibia after the last election.

I had to think about it for a while, especially as I am a SWAPO member.

Then inspiration struck, if we want to tackle a political problem, why not look at how this has been done by consumer activists (such as Ralph Nader in the USA). The most common denominator for people is their consumer experience in a society. Nader considered launching a third party around issues of citizen empowerment and consumer rights. He suggested a serious third party could address needs such as campaign-finance reform, worker and whistle-blower rights, and government-sanctioned watchdog groups to oversee banks and insurance agencies.

I suggest that should a "third-party" emerge it would only be viable if it had a coherent political platform that is not catered for in the existing parties.

What should this platform be based on?

Four things, namely the peace movement, the civil rights movement, the environmental movement, and the labour movement. (Often referred to as the "green movement".)

This is a political platform I could follow!

Judiciary

The Namibian Constitution guarantees the independence of the judiciary. Article 78 (3) states “No member of the Cabinet or the Legislature or any other person shall interfere with Judges or judicial officers in the exercise of their judicial functions, and all organs of the State shall accord such assistance as the Courts may require to protect their independence, dignity and effectiveness, subject to the terms of this Constitution or any other law.”

For me “judicial independence” means I may (and will) not interfere in the exercise of the functions of Judges. However, I feel it necessary to look at the administrative support supplied by the Executive. In his address to a Magistrates’ Symposium in 2004, Chief Justice Peter Shivute asserts that, in order to ensure its independence, the judiciary needs to “… exercise control over its financial and administrative operations so as to exclude the possibility of the organ of the state that holds the purse [strings] from exerting financial and administrative pressure on the judiciary …”^iv

The judiciary is dependent on the Ministry of Justice for its financing and it must rely on the budget allocation as determined by the Ministry of Finance. Through these allocations, the Ministries control the number of positions that will be created (or maintained) in the judiciary. In fact, the United Nations African Governance Report of 2005 states: “The judiciary in many African countries does not have operational independence because the executive determines the appointment, promotion and remuneration of judicial officers. The prospects of career mobility for judges therefore depend largely on how well they can court and patronize the executive. In most cases the budget and funds of the judiciary are controlled by the Ministry of Justice (an executive arm of government), which creates bureaucratic procedures in financial matters and the possibility of discriminatory funding to be used against the “erring” courts.”^v

One glaring example of the influence of the administration of the judiciary is the transcription services. This is given out by tender through the Ministry of Justice, and this service still only provides written copies without computerised records being kept. Furthermore, the delay in providing this service does add to the impression that “justice is delayed”.

I therefore propose that the administrative functions of the judiciary be done by a department that is headed by a Director-General appointed by the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia (acting on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission). This department shall submit its budget and reports to the National Assembly annually.

In addition, I also support the creation of “Tribal Courts” for matters that can be dealt with by the community leaders.

Small Claims Court

A “Small Claims Court” is a court of law where ordinary people can handle their own cases. It is not necessary to have a lawyer (and their costs) as the forms are meant to be a kind of “do-it-yourself” where you fill in the blanks. The court has less formal and less complicated rules and procedures than the Supreme Court.

I propose a small claims court be established where parties could settle their differences in cases up to the value of N$ 20,000. This can, and should, become part of a Consumer Protection Act.

Minimum Knowledge for a Citizen

The most often used expression in regards to our citizens must be “they know their rights but not their responsibilities”. Whenever I hear such evident truths, I always investigate it a little bit further. So, what is the responsibility of each and every citizen of our country?

This is a little bit harder to explain. I would often say, “your rights end where mine begin”. In other words, your responsibility is to ensure no intentional harm to others. This is what is referred to as “Common Law”. They exist from Roman times and are a way in which we hold an individual responsible for their own actions, which started when we understood the notion of intent and personal culpability.^vi

Now that I have found an explanation for what is termed “Common Law”, I have to leave my argument that we should create a school subject on that matter alone. Instead, I propose we ensure each pupil be conversant not only with the Namibian Constitution, but also specifically of the areas of law covered for example in the Magistrates Courts Act. This subject of “Citizens Knowledge” should be taught to all students (probably throughout their school career) and include those elements that would allow the court to authoritatively state, “ignorance of the law is no excuse”. This should positively impact on increasing the awareness of the citizen of not only their rights, but also their responsibilities.

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