Amnesty Is Unfair

MY letter refers to the new NBC TV licence “amnesty” as initiated by the new CEO Bob Kandetu in September 2006.

A general pardon, I suppose, under new management. Forgiveness.Forgiveness? I am a regular TV-licence payer and always strive to make sure that I don’t fall into the category of those who did not pay their licences; despite all the criticism of how lousy NBC-TV services are.Those who could afford it but chose not to.Thanks to a friend with a DSTV decoder, I hardly watch NBC myself.There was not always money, sometimes there was none.But I paid, and when Penduka NBC went door to door warning, collecting or whatever, I happily showed them just how well I’ve been a dedicated customer.Now comes an “amnesty”.Some people owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in NBC licence fees and I stand with them on the same grid.The difference is, I continue to supply the money, while they are only now starting to pay because of the amnesty.Suddenly, I realise my effort was worthless.Mr. Kandetu surely you and I both know that there will always be many who won’t pay the NBC TV licences as required despite the amnesty.What will you do about those? Declare another amnesty in a few years? Can those of us who used to pay regularly now skip a year or two, maybe more, and not have NBC on our heels? I suppose the amnesty is a good initiative but it must apply to all of us.The NBC is already struggling financially and there are investigations into Penduka regarding licence fees not accounted for.Please let the amnesty be fair to all of us.Also respond so that we all know exactly what’s expected of and from us and how far investigations into Penduka (NBC) are.Ndeshinyengwa WindhoekForgiveness.Forgiveness? I am a regular TV-licence payer and always strive to make sure that I don’t fall into the category of those who did not pay their licences; despite all the criticism of how lousy NBC-TV services are.Those who could afford it but chose not to.Thanks to a friend with a DSTV decoder, I hardly watch NBC myself.There was not always money, sometimes there was none.But I paid, and when Penduka NBC went door to door warning, collecting or whatever, I happily showed them just how well I’ve been a dedicated customer.Now comes an “amnesty”.Some people owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in NBC licence fees and I stand with them on the same grid.The difference is, I continue to supply the money, while they are only now starting to pay because of the amnesty.Suddenly, I realise my effort was worthless.Mr. Kandetu surely you and I both know that there will always be many who won’t pay the NBC TV licences as required despite the amnesty.What will you do about those? Declare another amnesty in a few years? Can those of us who used to pay regularly now skip a year or two, maybe more, and not have NBC on our heels? I suppose the amnesty is a good initiative but it must apply to all of us.The NBC is already struggling financially and there are investigations into Penduka regarding licence fees not accounted for.Please let the amnesty be fair to all of us.Also respond so that we all know exactly what’s expected of and from us and how far investigations into Penduka (NBC) are.Ndeshinyengwa Windhoek