Totem gala dinner raises half a million

The Oshakati Totem Expo fundraising gala dinner held at the University of Namibia (Unam) Oshakati campus this past Saturday, got pledges worth N$510 000.
The week-long event will take place as from 27 May to 4 June. The top three pledges were made by Chicco Building Material Supply and Kambwa Trading, Fysal Fresh Produce and First National Bank who donated N$110 000,N$100 000 and N$30 000 respectively.
Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Chief Samuel Ankama who expressed disappointment at the absence of some companies conducting business at Oshakati said these organisations did not have the interest of the town at heart. Ankama said this was an opportunity for the Oshakati Town Council to see which companies are just there to make money from the residence of the town.
“Know your partners,” he warned, before concluding his address.
A speech read on behalf of the Minister of Economic Planning, Tom Alweendo, by Lucia Iipumbu described the importance of hosting a totem expo considering the fact that Namibians are currently living in challenging times threatening cultures, heritage and development.
Alweendo said social ills such as baby dumping, murder and other related criminal activities are a result of the neglect of culture and heritage by the Namibian people.
“In these challenging times the risk of our cultures and heritages getting lost is real. For this matter, it requires explicit and deliberate efforts to ensure that we preserve our cultures and heritage, while we embark upon our struggle for economic emancipation,” the speech read.
Mayor of Oshakati, Katrina Shimbulu said the upcoming edition of the totem expo will be better than past expos.
The theme of this year’s expo is ‘Strengthening ties through culture’.

KENYA KAMBOWE