EDITORIAL: Adios, Leon!
There’s a lot to munch on regarding Leon Jooste’s spree of resignations as reported in today’s edition.
First, it is important to see ministers leaving office voluntarily. We may not have the full picture of what motivated Jooste’s departure, but he will not be slamming doors on his way out.
With a few exceptions, many Namibian ministers left office when it was untenable to continue serving. Those convicted of corruption and the pair who left because of the Fishrot albatross around their necks come to mind.
Jooste was hugely unpopular, but mostly because Namibians were blinded by the colour of his skin and how that ties in with the history of our country. His geographic location in the government bureaucracy at the time of liquidating Air Namibia did not help matters either.
But to many of us, he was brave enough to weather the storm that came with that decisive step, one of the best by the Geingob administration.
Saving the national airline was not going to happen by throwing more billions into its bottomless cockpit.
Pride and populism have cost us N$10 billion in subsidies to protect sentimentalism.
While it was extremely painful to see so many people lose their jobs, today we do not feel the void of Air Namibia’s absence. That space has been ably filled by others, with no cost to the state.
First, it is important to see ministers leaving office voluntarily. We may not have the full picture of what motivated Jooste’s departure, but he will not be slamming doors on his way out.
With a few exceptions, many Namibian ministers left office when it was untenable to continue serving. Those convicted of corruption and the pair who left because of the Fishrot albatross around their necks come to mind.
Jooste was hugely unpopular, but mostly because Namibians were blinded by the colour of his skin and how that ties in with the history of our country. His geographic location in the government bureaucracy at the time of liquidating Air Namibia did not help matters either.
But to many of us, he was brave enough to weather the storm that came with that decisive step, one of the best by the Geingob administration.
Saving the national airline was not going to happen by throwing more billions into its bottomless cockpit.
Pride and populism have cost us N$10 billion in subsidies to protect sentimentalism.
While it was extremely painful to see so many people lose their jobs, today we do not feel the void of Air Namibia’s absence. That space has been ably filled by others, with no cost to the state.
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Namibian Sun
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