It’s not personal – former justice minister Yvonne Dausab reflects on Cabinet exit

Former minister of justice Yvonne Dausab says she does not resent president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s decision to drop her from Namibia’s Cabinet.

“We mustn’t take some of these things personally, I certainly don’t. And I’m not saying it was easy . . . you now have to rearrange your life in terms of what the next things are you’re going to be doing, but it’s certainly not an insurmountable task,” she told Desert FM on Tuesday.

She said she wants Namibia to produce caring citizens, and to decrease the rising cases of gender-based violence (GBV), particularly those involving children.

Dausab said she hopes Namibia will become a country that does not thrive on the hurt of others, denigrating other human beings and wanting to cause reputational damage to people, as is currently the trend.

“I hope that we will become a society that takes care of each other, the kind of society the Namibian House aspires to be, where everybody feels included, and that won’t discriminate against anyone that is part of the human family,” she said.

Dausab said she hopes Namibia will focus on a development agenda that will ensure social justice, and that the law will become a tool to enhance this.