Being my home region I know the great Caprivi region well. The region has been going through a lot of hardships over the past decades, from the failed secession attempt to floods and the evil of tribalism. But despite all these and many other challenges, one thing is clear; we want 2009 to be a year of improvements in different areas of the regional economy. Like Barack Obama says "Change has come to America", let us all say change has come to the Caprivi in 2009.

Education is primarily for the development of the region. The region's educational leaders should work extra hard to ensure that majority of our people in the region receive timely and quality education. Priority must be given to ensuring that the youth receive education and training to eliminate the lack of skills among the youth in the region.

Our Government continues to pump in a lot of resources in the national education sector, and it's equally important that the regional leadership also invest a lot of energy and efforts in the regional education sector.

One major initiative to improve education would be implementing the no child left behind act of the Bush administration which aims to measure and close the gap between the rich and poor student/learner performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more government funding to low-income schools.

Every year we see fewer matrics qualifying for tertiary education in the region. This is worrisome and requires the efforts of the regional education officials to investigate the root causes of such failures and take prompt corrective action.

My biggest dream for 2009 for the Caprivi region is to see plans to build an agricultural and science UNAM campus in the region, despite the presence of the Caprivi College of Education and the Zambezi Vocational Center which are efforts we appreciate from our Government.

There is still a greater need for agricultural and science expertise in the region, with the rice project being a success thanks to the University of Namibia and other progressive partners.

I made a submission of having a UNAM campus in the region to the office of the regional Governor Leonard Mwilima four months ago, for the honorable Governor and other educational officials to engage in dialogue with the office of the Vice Chancellor at UNAM. The fact that the closest campus to Caprivi is over a 1 000 km away is genuinely disturbing. I hope to see a blueprint to build a UNAM campus in the region by the end of 2009.

Youth Empowerment

To me there is nothing more important than youth empowerment when it comes to development. Youth empowerment is vital for the future of the region. I encourage the youth of the Caprivi region to fight for empowerment and equally strive to empower themselves through initiatives that will enable them to be strategic partners for development in the region.

The creation of a youth resources center a few years ago by the Government is a move in the right direction; it gives the youth of the region more resources for them to meet and learn in all forms and grow.

The Caprivi regional council together with the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture should also consider running more youth empowerment programmes similar to the programme being run by the National Youth Council by helping SMEs owned by the youth of the region - this is something vital to build a strong regional economy and empower the youth for the future.

I salute Cde Mandela Kapere and his team at NYC for such projects. Such programmes should not end in Katima Mulilo but should extend to the villages in the region.

This is a challenge that constituency councillors should take up as soon as possible to ensure that we move in the right direction in the arena of youth empowerment.

Health Care and Sanitation

The increasing network of clinics around the Caprivi region is commendable, but a lot still needs to be done to improve the quality of health care in the region. Efforts must be made to ensure that no one in the region has to travel more than 1 km to the nearest clinic or hospital.

The region should also strive to produce its own health professionals to ensure reliability of health professionals. It's a painful fact that HIV/AIDS is the region's biggest enemy. I should acknowledge that our Government continues to educate our people about HIV/AIDS.

I therefore want to effectively use this platform to encourage the youth of the region to refrain from drug and alcohol abuse as it is the root of most infections among the youth (the region's most valuable asset) in the region.

I was happy to hear the Regional Council on its last meeting for 2008 recognising the challenge of sanitation in the region, acknowledging the challenge is the start but we need a proactive blueprint on how the council will tackle this challenge starting now in 2009. The plans said by Cde J. Likando, Mayor of Katima Mulilo in a local daily to develop rural residential areas like Chotto into modern suburbs, is a move in the right direction.

SME Support

Small and medium sized businesses development is an ultimate key to empowering the locals and growing the regional economy. It's through SME development that we will improve the lives of our people in the region in line with the Government's Vision 2030.

I was extremely impressed with the new small business center and renovation of the open market to a state of the art open market - I salute our Government, regional leaders and other partners for such developments.

Let's make 2009 a year in which we take SME development to the villages (especially at Bukalo and Kongola) not only in Katima Mulilo to ensure that development starts at village level.

Agriculture

2008 was not a good year for farmers in the Caprivi region, with foot-and-mouth disease being the biggest challenge for the regional agricultural sector in 2008. Let's make 2009 a year in which we will increase food supply in the region and as a result in the country as a whole.

At the top of the list should be agricultural and veterinary education among the communal farmers in the villages whose mentality must move from that of just producing for their families but for the whole region and indeed the whole Namibia.

Let the rice project be Caprivi's treasure - let's see more young people employed and trained in the agricultural sector. Let the region return to what it was known as the food basket of Namibia (Caprivi sizuma sa lico).

Private Sector Participation

We all know that private-public partnership is vital for development, but it should start at regional level. One wonders why a lot of businesses in the Caprivi region are not actively involved in the development of the region, bank branches, Chinese shops, filling stations, food retailers like Pick 'n Pay, etc. hardly put a few pennies back in the development of the region that gives them the profits.

The Caprivi Regional Council together with the Katima Mulilo Town Council should encourage full and active participation of the private sector operating in the region in terms of development in the region. A good example is Combra businesses - these businesses have benefited from the people in the region from its humble beginnings as a small food retailer, but have never even engaged in a developmental project or offered a bursary to young people in the region.

The private sector in the region should be actively involved in the following:

- Sponsoring/financing infrastructure developments in the region.

- Offer internships and training to the youth in the region.

- Offer bursaries and scholarships to orphans and other needy learners especially those studying in the region.

- Chinese proprietors should start respecting zonings; they should start renting houses instead of staying in their shops.

- Running and participating in community uplifting projects

Infrastructure Development

The Zambezi Water Front project is a historic project for the region. I want to urge the people of the Caprivi to contribute in any way possible in order to make sure that the Katima water front project is a success. Good infrastructure is the start of genuine development, to smoothen trade with other regions and countries.

The Caprivi region is at a strategic position for Namibia with a good road network. Roads are a must for development in the Caprivi. Katima Mulilo road infrastructure is extremely poor, so the Katima Mulilo town council should invest in the town roads. On the other hand, we want to see more gravel roads developed all around the region.

One question is loud - when will we see plans of extending the national railway line up to Katima Mulilo? A railway will not only be great for the regional economy but it will also improve road accidents where hundreds of our families are dying from having to travel more than 1 000 km from Windhoek.

The constant power and water shortages in Katima Mulilo is really an obstacle for development in the entire region, how can people live or invest in a town without adequate or reliable energy supply, let's make alternative energy supply and if necessary replace the entire water line system in the region.

Bukalo and Kongola should become towns in the next decade, and businesses should expand in those two major villages to allow for development in those two villages, while equally the people of the region together with the regional council should invest time and energy to develop the two villages into towns in the next decade.

We also don't want to see unspent government funds being returned to taxpayers - the surplus is not the regional government's money.

The surplus is the people's money, therefore the regional government should wisely budget and utilize all funds from central government.

Way Forward

I wish to see the Caprivi region moving in a direction of zero tolerance of corruption, tribalism, regionalism and nepotism. I want to encourage the religious leaders to lead the fight against the evil of tribalism. The youth on the other hand should take their future seriously by refraining from drug and alcohol abuse, and undisciplined sexual behavior that may led to HIV/AIDS.

Let the youth empower themselves through private or public supported projects. I want to encourage those progressive youth that have studied at Unam and other higher learning institutions to come back and plough their knowledge and expertise to recover the outflow of resources that went out of the region to pay for their education.

Let all youth in the region rally behind our Government's developmental projects in the region. It's only with our full support as young people of the region that our Government will fully implement these programmmes and projects and to drive out unemployment and lack of skills among the youth, underdevelopment at local and regional level, the evil of poverty and HIV/AIDS among other things in the Caprivi region.

With the 2009 elections on its way this year, let's practice tolerance and peaceful campaigns in the region to avoid any politically motivated violence.

REMEMBER: It's not what your region can do for you but it's what you can do for your region.

One Namibia, One Nation!

- Nicky Mutenda is a student activist.