Gone Till November

Decided to head back east and spend the summer in Tanzania. The last couple months took me on a roller coast ride from the rivers of the Okavango (hunting crocs) then spending cold nights in the Kalahari desert then finding my way to the  rapidly developing towns of Northern Namibia.

I saw a side of Namibia you will never hear off in Windhoek. There are so many wonders in the landscape and the amount of conservation going on is implacable.

 The work experience out of Windhoek  really Changed my perspective 180 degrees. There is lots of Government spending on infrastructure development and lots more on education, For example I was in remote villages and would meet a young teacher maybe 23 years  teaching Computer literacy to kids that do not even have a tv at home .  

                Truly this is the Land of the Brave.

 The whole experience taught me that Private Public Partnerships are difficult to achieve at local level, situations in the field are difficult to be planned of-site you can only prepared for the worst and money at times will not fix all the problems especially related to cultural practices and other social dynamics.  I call this the This is Africa Factor.


My favorite part of Namibia will have to be Otjozondijuba region I loved the winter night sky and the beef there has to be the best tasting beef in the world.




 Now the town I loved the most will have to be Gobabis was a true melting pot of Namibian tribes  and people there know how to have a good time with not as much violence as compared to Windhoek. Maybe it due to the ratio of number of churches to the number of bars I estimate it at 1 to 1.

Looking back at the last Quarter It was great working with everyone at UNAM more especially the Multi disciplinary research center and all the technicians from the Ministry of Education and the Good people of Orange IT and Gijima. TechNA!


They say a picture says a thousand words click here for more pictures!!

We moving on Up

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Over the heroes day long weekend I spent some time in katutura and had a tour of an informal settlement known as Havana 6. The experience got me thinking Why do people migrate from the rural area and move to town only to stay in shacks? And what is the government of Namibia doing to address the need of people migrating to Windhoek.

  Now to my knowledge recently the government has passed two new acts of legislation the Labor Amendment  act and the flexible land Tenure act, which for me clearly show that the government is not making long term strategies in the interest of its people living in informal settlements.

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Why I say this is that the land act in the long run will benefit the rich. Here is why I think that; in reality the people will be able to organize claim land and have title deeds; Yeah for them. Now these same people will now have aces to loans and use the land/house as surety. I am confident that a high number of people will default and loss the land and end up in the balance sheets of Banks. Hate it or love it that is what will happen.

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Now the new labor act is a mess on its own. To me it’s designed to make it hard to get a casual work but when you do get casual work you are protected which is ok, but now comes to the employer this will definitely increase the cost of labor. The clause that allows for the presumption of indefinite employment is going to be abused by employers that I can guarantee, how you ask? You will have to pay me to tell how that’s intellectual property.

   

Now back to my first question why move from the rural area. Well my underlying thought is based two key qualitative variables Hope and Consumerism. On the issues of consumerism people migrate because they come from subsistence farming which make it hard to have access to consumer goods like cell phones, Kentucky fried chicken, toys for kids blah blah. Now hope comes in the sense that there is chance of better life with the supposition of proximity to health care, good teachers, and personal empowerment as in there voice will be heard in the city.

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  Now Namibia as of at 2009 has 235 informal settlementsapprox. 135,000 household and approx population of 540,000. And the latest census shows this has increased. Will the trend further hurt Namibia when it comes to the geni coefficient score?