!Nami#Nus Namibia

!Nami#Nus We, the residents of this beautiful town Luderitzbucht, would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Namibian people, and especially old Buchters scattered all over Namibia, for their unwavering support in our quest to be heard. It is most befitting that on this Tuesday, one day after we Namibians celebrated Heroes’ Day in grandeur, we Buchters must demand the democracy that so many heroes and heroines fought and lost their lives for. They will always be the true heroes and heroines of our Nation. We once again reiterate our sentiments as we have done since the start of this unsavoury saga: Here in Luderitz we have no ethnic groups or tribes. The only tribe we have here is the Buchter Tribe, practising the Buchter culture. However, having said that, we do recognize and respect the heritage of every individual in this Buchter tribe. This name change saga unfortunately left us fragmented along ethnic and tribal lines, which was never the case in the past and should not have happened in the present. It injured us more than it did good, and surely this cannot be the intention of our Government. All we want is to live together in peace and harmony, as we did before this unfortunate “misunderstanding” occurred. We therefore humbly (as it is befitting), request our President to clear up this confusion/ misunderstanding regarding this name change. We ask for our President’s assurance that the planned renaming of our town (according to Attorney- General Albert Kawana), be stopped and the residents of Luderitz be consulted. We do not want to find ourselves in this very same position a year from now, we want to put this episode behind us and move forward. We the residents of Luderitz DEMAND an unequivocal public apology from Minister Namoloh, for his unbecoming conduct as a Minister of Namibia, when he called us drunkards in the printed media. Telling the nation that we were most likely sitting at “shebeens” when we should have attended the Delimitation Committee meeting, is derogatory and mean- spirited. Nothing less than a public apology will suffice. In response to Mr. Shanghala’s comments, also in the printed media: We as Buchters fail to see the reluctance by our Government to rectify this “misunderstanding” earlier, and his comments, as contradictory as it is to Mr. Albert Kawana’s comments, do nothing to belie our fears of another assault on our Constitutional Rights and the flagrant disregard of our Namibian Laws in the future. Had someone from Government woke up earlier to correct the “misunderstanding”, this “storm in a teacup” would not have become “the souwie blasing in Luderitz”. In response to Mr. Tim Andile Ekandjo’s very public shame of his fellow Buchters: We DEMAND from the Luderitz Town Council the immediate removal of Andile Ekandjo as the Patrion of the Annual Luderitz Crayfish Festival. We are of the opinion that Mr. Andile Ekandjo’s public display of his true allegiance, albeit on the MTC platform, renders him the least suitable person to bestow this honour upon. To the Nay sayers, (everyone who said no to the name change), thank you. To the Ya sayers, you are entitled to your opinion under this very Constitutional Right that we are fighting to preserve. -Reggie Hercules