Pressure on Shiimi to push money into social sector

Pressure is mounting on the minister of finance and public enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, to prioritise the reallocation of funds to the social sector, such as health, education, and pensioners’, disability and other grants.

Shiimi will announce the ministry’s midterm budget at the parliament this afternoon.

Rinaani Musutua, an activist and trustee at the Economic and Social Justice Trust, yesterday told Desert Radio the trust is expecting the minister to make decisions which would improve the lives of ordinary Namibians.

“We expect the minister to improve expenditure on social issues. Last week I had a consultative meeting with him, and we told him there is a need to pay a basic income grant to every Namibian of N$500, but he said he did not think it’s feasible.

“The issue is never about improving revenue, but what we know is that there is enough money for capital flight by some big companies which are not paying their fair share of royalties,” she said.

“I don’t think there will be much change to the budget allocation . . .

“Since the government is ready to invest a lot of money in green hydrogen, a lot of money will be put into infrastructure development that would take away from more prominent issues in the country.”

Musutua’s sentiments were echoed by Landless People’s Movement national spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa, who said the government lacks the political will to prioritise social spending for the betterment of Namibian lives.

“As a party we have done a lot in parliament. We have brought so many bills, including those that look at youth unemployment, improving education, and many more, but we only have four representatives in parliament, so our numbers are not sufficient to push the ruling party to make these changes,” he said.

Simataa said the government needs to take expenditure addressing the housing shortage more seriously.

“If you review the budget released by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development you will see that Swakopmund and Gobabis got N$2 000 and N$3 000 for the massive surveying of land,” he said.

Simataa said there is a genuine need to see improved expenditure, including upping disability grants.

“Even if they argue that they have increased disability grants, the question is: What can someone do with N$1 500? That is not enough to even buy a wheelchair,” he said.

SPEND WHAT YOU HAVE

Meanwhile, economist Salomo Hei says there is a need for Shiimi to put his efforts into diversifying revenue streams and improving inflows into the national purse.

“The issue is that at least for the first time we have a better fiscal space where we are talking about economic growth.
“I am not so sure the idea is to increase expenditure in social aspects, but to have policies that address the revenue gaps.

“Remember recently there were also pronouncements made by the president that they would no longer be exporting raw materials, so I expect this budget to make policy pronouncements that speak to that,” he says.

Hei says increased expenditure without improving revenue generation would not solve the major challenges faced by the country.

“I would say a clear policy pronouncement and focusing on creating better opportunities for the business sector would do it. I also want to see what the minister would do on the issue of Namcor, which is facing financial challenges.

“TransNamib is another issue that needs to be addressed,” he says.

Hei says there is a need to prioritise the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco).

“There was a conversation around one state-owned enterprise to take care of all government parastatals. There has been ongoing consultation on this, so anticipate some traction in this regard,” he says.

PROCUREMENT ISSUES

Minister of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula says the health sector should find a long-lasting solution to procurement issues.

He has said this in apparent response to calls for additional funds to be channelled to his ministry.

“The money must cater for everyone. It should not be lost to Shangula to have said that the ministry of health does not have funding issues, but rather a procurement issue.”

“Funding has not been an issue. The issue is procurement modalities, because even if you have money, but you can’t buy, it’s an issue.”

However, this is contrary to the situation at hospitals, with some not having access to medication for up to three months and suffering dilapidated infrastructure.

ADDRESSING HUNGER

Opposition lawmaker McHenry Venaani says the country’s hunger challenges in particular should be addressed.

“The general expectation is that there will be a sufficient budget to cushion the hunger situation in the country,” he says.

Venaani also wants Shiimi to find a long-lasting solution to the growing unemployment problem.

“We would expect the additional budget to address this issue by providing a basic income grant of at least N$1 000 for the next three months,” he says.