Cabinet performed poorly – opposition, analysts

Analysts and politicians have summed up the perfomance of the outgoing Cabinet led by president Nangolo Mbumba as below average, citing poverty levels, lacking service delivery and the liquidation of Air Namibia as the biggest failures.

They gave their subjective rankings on Cabinet’s performance on four key issues: tackling youth unemployment, strengthening the economy, improving infrastructure and service delivery.

Mbumba, in his final speech to the National Assembly yesterday, said the current Cabinet had made concrete decisions in the interest of advancing economic growth, employment creation and poverty eradication for all citizens.

“Today, I can proudly state that indeed, this administration has made several steps aimed at addressing inequalities, as well as ensuring greater inclusion of previously disadvantaged groups within Namibia’s economy,” he said.

Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters lawmaker Kalimbo Iipumbu yesterday said the current administration will always have the stain of Air Namibia’s liquidation on their hands.

The national airline was liquidated in 2021, leaving around 600 people unemployed in a challenging economic climate.

Iipumbu said the decision to combine the ministries of finance and public enterprises in December 2022 was premature, and should have been preceded by more investigation into the airline’s challenges. He said the government needed to examine and resolve what went wrong at Air Namibia in order to rescue the airline.

“[Air Namibia] was our national identity. That is one that we should not have lost,” the lawmaker said.

Iipumbu also said the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform missed out on the opportunity to remove the 128-year-old veterinary cordon fence (redline).

Iipumbu suggested a 10-year mandate for the government leadership to address this.

“I think it’s really high time we get back to our Constitution and try to review some of these laws that are binding us to this democratic process, perhaps to shift even to 10 years instead of five to better serve the needs of the nation,” he said.

LACKLUSTER APPROACH

The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) gave the government a score of 4.25 out of 10 – a rating which it says recognises the difficulties of navigating the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the economic front, LPM’s spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa yesterday said the government has neglected the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors.

He said the administration did not provide appropriate backing, especially with the agriculture sector facing a drought.

“[In terms of] the government’s lackluster approach in handling and supporting the sector and additionally being innovative in the sector, growing the sector or opening up the sector for Namibians, either no discussion has started, or there is a lack of input,” Simataa said.

The LPM spokesperson said while some projects started or made significant progress – most notably green hydrogen and offshore oil discoveries – they remain in the formative stages and have not yet actively contributed to the economy.

Simataa also criticised the government’s record on service delivery, particularly related to opportunities for children, citing low pass levels for secondary school pupils. He said only 22% of pupils passed between 2020 and 2022, while less than 30% passed during Cabinet’s tenure.

Simataa added that insufficient communication with relevant parties resulted in pupils completing Grade 11 but being unable to meet the University of Namibia’s entrance requirements.

SOCIETY IN CRISIS

Political analyst Rui Tyitende yesterday said he is not certain to which Namibia Mbumba is referring to when he claims that great strides have been made addressing the socio-economic crisis engulfing society.

Tyitende questioned “if [Mbumba] is referring to Namibia where 1.6 million people are living in poverty, 1.1 million having shacks as their primary residence [or] an education system that condemns young people to join an army of the unemployed”.

The analyst said Swapo has mastered the art of language and promises, but that will never be a substitute for genuine economic emancipation.

“I hope the next administration will steer clear of delusions of development that only occur in their minds, and start addressing the material conditions of people,” he said, adding that Namibian politics has divorced itself from the substance of citizens’ practical lives.

SOCIAL ILLS

Human rights activist and former member of parliament Rosa Namises yesterday said the insufficiencies of the current administration warrant a score of four out of 10.

“[Over] the last 10 years, we ended with baggage called unemployment, poverty and violence against women,” she said.

Namises said youth are suffering, evidenced by increased reports of suicide, and addiction to drugs and alcohol.

“And then there is much more crime, with young people engaged in drug dealing and use, as well as alcohol abuse,” she said.

Namises said young people have experienced domestic and public violence for the last 10 years, questioning whether justice is properly served.

“We have seen our officers engage in shootings and killings of people and nothing happens from those cases,” she claimed.

The activist said the government’s silence creates a state-sponsored violence situation and it spills over to the communities, to the society.

“Namibian women and our men are really in trouble,” she warned.

POOR MANAGEMENT

Economist Omu Kakujaha-Matundu gave Cabinet four points out of 10 on its approach to strengthening the economy.

“This is reflected in growth rates that failed to create employment, leading to an unemployment rate of close to 40%,” he says.

On improving infrastructure including roads, railways and internet access, Kakujaha-Matundu saw the same score as fitting, citing “the dilapidated railroad, which needs billions to overhaul; [the] poor state of government assets, as well as poor asset management such as buildings and government garages”.

Delivery of housing, education and health received the same score from the economist, who pointed to the long queues at public hospitals and lack of medicine, the housing backlog, “sprawling informal settlements with no sanitation”, and a lack of early childhood development education as evidence.

“Huge backlog of housing and sprawling informal settlement with no sanitation; lack of early child development education,” he adds on service delivery.

The lowest score he handed down was for the government’s efforts to tackle youth unemployment – two out of 10.

“[Youth unemployment] has remained high over the past 10 years without serious attempts by the government to resolve it.”