Namibia not immune to terrorism - Angula

Namibia is not immune to terrorism, cyber crime and other international threats because of its abundance of strategic minerals, including uranium and diamonds. This was said by Defence Minister Nahas Angula when he addressed his staff at their first meeting of the year. Angula said the ministry is one of the important pillars of national security and safety. He said their primary mission is to ensure the country’s sovereignty and the national interest. “This is indeed a daunting task, particularly so in the unipolar world,” he remarked. He explained that the unipolar world is characterised by political dominance by a few powerful countries acting as a coalition of common interests. “The unipolar world is dangerous because of the fact that one power intimidates the weak smaller nations with impunity,” he stated. He further said the exercise of asymmetrical power is often characterised by horrific violence perpetrated mostly against innocent individuals. Angula said given this state of affairs, the NDF should be an institution of stability and national cohesion. “This means that we must all work as a team in the spirit of camaraderie and esprit de corps. Our success in defending this country shall fundamentally depend on all of us accepting NDF as a family... we are each other’s keepers,” he said. He added that the country is celebrating 25 years of independence on March 21 and this implies independence and self-reliance, responsibility and self-respect. “As a nation we cannot depend on others anymore. We are our own keeper. We must take responsibility of the state of affairs in our nation.” Angula added that poverty and inequality force people to migrate from one country to another and this movement of people in search of greener pastures poses danger in terms of resource competition, spreading of communicable diseases, drug trafficking and terrorism. “Here at home we are experiencing multiple challenges of socio-economic divides. These include the rural/urban divide, gender and generational divides as well as an emerging class divide.” He said the rural/urban divide is responsible for internal migration which puts pressure on urban infrastructure, such as uncontrolled informal settlements, pressure on social services such as overcrowded classrooms and hospitals in urban areas. He also said the emerging class divide has a potential of creating further social fault lines which can threaten social cohesion in a society which is already characterised by cultural and social diversity. WINDHOEK SELMA IKELA