The supreme law of Namibia guarantees the fundamental human rights and freedom of every citizen and that includes freedom to practice any religion. The land of the brave therefore is a secular state, which means all religions are regarded as equal before the law. The inalienable right to religious freedom is basically being abused in the wake of the mushrooming of churches associated with miracles, faith healing and self-proclaimed prophets. In essence, these prophets could be equated to a similar menace of witchdoctors that are claiming to cure HIV/Aids and making other ridiculous claims of possessing paranormal powers.

The desperate cries at all levels of society to attempt to find solutions to the growing scourge of violence against the most vulnerable of society - especially women and girls - were not only  amplified last week at a conference of the Council of Churches of Namibia (CCN), but it is clear that the cry is that there are obviously not a solution to this growing blot on the national conscience.