Oranjemund Voter Registration!

[Michael Alexander]

Well. the population of Ornajemund are moaning, the following three days are the time to go and get yourself on the voters roll for the upcoming historical elections in Oranjemund.  Seem's like a number of residents have given up trying to register on the roll and gone home..... the folk at the registration points are demanding proof from folk that they have indeed lived in Oranjemund for the last 12 months before placing them on the voters roll..... due to the fact they cannot provide any power or water bills, they have to go and fetch a phone bill, one recent and the other from 12 months ago..... now a number of folk use cells and do not have a fixed line , on top of that hardly anyone has a copy of a 12 month old phone bill.... you have to pay telecom N$65.00 for a reprint, which the masses cannot afford.... Alrrady prominent politicians are worrying about a poor voter turnout......

I guess somebody is going to win the farce of a local election with 40 votes at this rate.... and yes! There are still people that are'nt interested as they do not want proclamation.... but then there was no referendum held on this issue in the first place......

I also heard that the future authority are already hoping to get a "gift" of free buildings from the mine, which they in turn want to rent to make income for the municipality..... Gee! does'nt anyone remember the farce of when OTMCO were "renting" the houses out to their buddies and friends..... just watch this space....

I said this 4 years ago..... You only have one chance at transferring our town into the  modern age...... so don't screw it up.....

[Stevie]

Having been there to try register this morning only to be sent away to get a telephone account . I   mean i have only been living here since birth - 38 yrs ago . My ID and Passport show Oranjemund as my place off birth . You would think with the advanced technology off today they would have a computer or two set up with one having records from Namdeb Security Permits  and one from Telecom maybe . Please remember to bring a phone account with your initials  and not your partners . Looks if you have no landline , you will not be voting . 

Who will be paying for the reprint off your telephone account  ?

[Michael Alexander]

Heard of a prominent person managing to get a whole group of folk registered to vote.... mmmmh!

[Stevie]

Somebody needing some votes then .

[Charles Scheepers]

Yip......don't forget the corruption...................we thrive on it these days..

[Mike Stenson (RIP)]

Heard of a prominent person managing to get a whole group of folk registered to vote.... mmmmh!

Mike tell that prominent person we not paying rates, water or electricity because we don't live in Oranjemund.
Bet there will no problem proving we live in Oranjemund when the time comes to pay up.... 

[Michael Alexander]

Here it goes, hearing this morning how a prominent person got it right, to sit at the registration station and "vouch" for people to be registered, No problem, but a guy that turns up with a birth certificate stating he was born in Oranjemund , with a valid ID, get's turned away.... as stated earlier, most just shrug their shoulders and give up......

[Patricia Lotte]

Why don't you just go back there with the 'prominent person' ?

[Michael Alexander]

The prominent person only will go with you, if you assure him that you shall be voting for him in March....

Agh! at the end of the day, it is frustrating, due to the fact that you are not voting for the candidate with the right credentials to run the town, but casting your vote for a political party, in this case all the sheep get told who to vote for and then the ruling party will win anyway, then the boys in Windhoek appoint their puppet to run the town.... the puppet in turn then appoints all his cronies into town management positions, start to charge the residents to live, increasing their takings to run the town....

Why do we have to vote along party towns to run our own town? Why can we not vote for a local person/people to run the town, not a political party...

Just my gripe....

[Patricia Lotte]

Mike, be a politician for a few hours ... lies ... lies ... and more lies ... They won't know who you voted for on the day.

[Michael Alexander]

From a source:

" when Jesse Munashimwe was here  ( he used to work for many years
for Namdeb )  he is with the Election Committee  Windhoek   and when he was here last year with a delegation   - he said that they are aware of the fact that there is no lights and water account   and that most people do not have a land line telephone , but that he suggested that they approach  HR  ( in  fact they made an appointment with Hr and said that HR  could give them a printout  of their people  and that allied
services could give them a list of the residents  of oranjemund .  Allied services were also approached  ( that  is what he said)   whether he did  in fact have a meeting with HR   and Allied services  only he will know.  "


@Patricia, I am not against the prominent politician, in fact he is a longtime Oranjemunder, what I do have a problem with, is the lack of understanding from the folk manning the registration points. The fact that one man can stand there and vouch for a group of folk and get them registered, but when I go with my voters card or a phonebill, I get chased away, go get this , go get that, what about the folks with no landlines..... In conclusion I feel that if we have the potential to have say 4000 registered voters, yet only 10 % get to vote, is it right to claim a victory on behalf of the 400....

Nice living in a functioning democracy where we can air our views....

[garygray]

With the issue on proof of residence, would it not be easier if they had a letter from your employer to state that you have worked for them more that 12 months, instead of a telephone bill that no one actually keeps.  What about a security clearance form?  I am sure that there are more ways of proving your residence without paying $65 for an outdated telephone account.  Please make the effort to vote as it gives you the right to complain when things dont go according to plan.  If you dont vote, keep your comments to yourself.  The opening of the town was due for a long time and could not stop.  Mike, time you stepped up to the plate and became a town councillor yourself as you have ideas and suggestions to run our town properly.  This could benefit Oranjemuned in the long run.

[Skinny]

  Mike for Mayor, and agree with Gary Grey. @Mike  go on stand for councellor or even better Mayor!11! And the Company will give you a letter to say you a resident for 12 months or longer. We had to gert a letter due to the FICA act for SA for the bank, cell phone etc, so it can be done.

[Michael Alexander]

Thanks for the support Gary and Skinny, (yes! I Know I owe you 2 bottles of Whisky) 

I went this morning and registered, nice to see that most of the officials knew me, greetings of Hi Tate Mike, nice living in a small town.... Anyhow, here's the dope....

The guy in charge, says once you are registered, you may vouch for as many folk as you want, as long as they have an id with them.... So right there and then I vouched for Adriaan......

Next point, talking to another prominent person, turns out you do not have to vote for the two main political parties, he was contemplating setting up an Oranjemund Taxpayers Association, we debated the wisdom of this, wether or not it would split the official opposition vote.... he will decide over the next few days about the matter,


In essence, all you potential voters, stop bitchin' and moaning, stop saying it will not make a difference, it will, I went this morning to the hospital to have my blood pressure checked, the nurse gave me a lecture on  not voting and saying that a lot of the nation do not want the town to be run by the same group that have bankrupted many of the other towns in Namibia, all they do is enrich themselves and give meaningless jobs to their family and friends.... Wow! I thought..... let's push this thing..... maybe wisdom will prevail amongst the youth, realise that it's not about the good of the party, but the good of our town!

Please encourage all your co workers, family and friends to register, Saturday is the last day..... elections in March!

[Michael Alexander]

There, did my part, vouched now for 6 people today, let's try for 20 2morrow!