Violence Against Women
Source: New Era
The opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) has condemned the practice in which some desperate, under-achieving female students at Unam allegedly sleep with their lectures in exchange for marks to enable them to pass.
New Era recently revealed how lecturers at Unam allegedly award high marks to undeserving students in exchange for sex.
Some lecturers allegedly also write assignments for students in exchange for cash, charging up to N$150 for an assignment and up to N$3 000 for a thesis.
It is not clear if the practices are common at other higher learning institutions as well.
In a statement, RDP Secretary for Information and Publicity, Jeremiah Nambinga, said the party "is shocked and indeed very much disappointed and embarrassed by the revelations".
Nambinga called for lecturers who allow themselves to corrupt "our children" with sex favours for higher marks to be dismissed, when found, and the children who are involved to be disciplined.
"Any person promoting a culture of laziness and corruption instead of a culture of hard work and ethics at Unam must be given marching orders."
The secretary said that he is embarrassed "that Namibia's national institution of higher learning, the University of Namibia (Unam), is allegedly converted into an academic brothel by some of its lecturers and that some of our daughters have been turned into prostitutes for higher marks".
The practice of sex for higher marks does not only corrupt "our children but also poses a higher risk of contracting deadly diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV/Aids and encourage unwanted pregnancies", Nambinga said.
"These negative vices are against the academic lifespan of our children and must be stopped forthwith," the secretary added.
Nambinga charged that this sad state of affairs "once again confirms what the RDP has been repeatedly warning this nation about that – the ruling Swapo Party has lost vision and is therefore incompetent and thus has no political will or commitment to improve the wellbeing of the Namibian youth in general, the students in particular and that of the Namibian populace and large".
"Fellow Namibians, the only solution is for us as people to stand together and give Swapo Party marching orders at the ballot box. Governance that fails to take care of its citizens' welfare is not worth sacrificing for," Nambinga continued.