there are 2 namibias: activist

Absalom Shigwedha for The Namibian

March 4, 2004: Unless all Namibians know their rights, as enshrined in the Constitution, democracy will only be exercised by those who know these rights, says a community activist.

Ottilie Abrahams, Principal of the Jakob Morenga Secondary School in Katutura, believes that the reason why some pupils are not interested in school, or even attending school, is because they do not know they have a right to education.

Abrahams was one of the panelists at a public lecture on 'The State of Democracy in Namibia', held at the Immanuel Shifidi Secondary School Hall in Windhoek on Wednesday evening. She said some parents - especially those in black townships - also showed no interest in helping their children with their homework because they did not know that children had a right to education and that parents had to guide them.

"We have two Namibias. You will find that in the suburbs parents do homework with their children. But this is not happening in Katutura," said Abrahams.

However, she said, the practice of democracy in Namibia was far more effective than in other African countries, apart from South Africa.

But, she said, there were other factors that prevented poor people from exercising their freedom to live wherever they wanted to live.

Ian Swartz, of The Rainbow Project, an organisation that fights for the rights of gays and lesbians in Namibia, said in present-day Namibia there was a slow erosion of good governance practices.

Swartz said there was a need for Namibia to move away from defining democracy as the mere will of the majority.

"Good governance not only allows the voices of minorities to be heard, it also respects them," he said.

But, in Namibia, minorities found it more and more difficult to express themselves.

"The principle of freedom of expression in present-day Namibia is so badly compromised that you find Government clamping down on the media," charged Swartz.

Another example of the infringement of the right of expression, he said, was the difficulties gays, lesbians, bisexual and trans-gendered people faced.

"Namibia is not a country in which we can claim to be free from fear. During elections, people are intimidated, men wearing earrings are beaten up, people in custody are tortured and sexual minorities are the target of hate speeches," he claimed. The lecture was organised by the Namibia Non-Governmental Organisation Forum (Nangof).

http://allafrica.com/stories/200403030196.html