Govt to pay N$1.3m extra for PM, speaker retirement benefits

The government will spend N$1.34 million annually to cater for retirement benefits for the prime minister, deputy prime minister, speaker of the National Assembly and chairperson of the National Council after their retirement

This comes after president Nangolo Mbumba signed a Government Gazette granting the four public servants monthly compensation of about N$112 000 after retirement.

The retirees will also get a one-off motor vehicle allowance, totalling N$2.5 million for all four individuals.

Mbumba signed the gazette specifying post-retirement benefits last week, following consultation with the Public Office Bearers (Renumeration and Benefits) Commission as required in the act of the same name.

The prime minister, after retirement, is set to receive a monthly cook allowance (N$6 103), a monthly driver allowance (N$10 257) and a monthly public duties allowance (N$9 000) to meet the continuing additional office costs which they are liable to incur because of their “special position in public life”.

The prime minister will further receive a one-off motor vehicle grant worth N$700 000 for a vehicle that must be registered in their name at their own expense.

The deputy prime minister, speaker of the National Assembly and chairperson of the National Council chairpersons will each receive a one-off motor vehicle grant of N$600 000, with the same conditions on registration.

All four will bear the maintenance and insurance costs for the vehicle, with the prime minister pocketing a monthly fuel allowance of N$3 500 and the other recipients receiving N$3 000 monthly for fuel.

Security personnel will also be assigned to the four retired public servants, the number and duration of deployment of which will be determined by the Namibia Central Intelligence Service, based on the envisaged security threats in the country from time to time and based on the recipient’s personal preference.

Other non-material benefits include lifelong diplomatic passports and use of very important person (VIP) lounges in national airports, as well as VIP traffic tokens for VIP road user privileges and for preferential treatment at border posts and police roadblocks.

The VIP sticker is used by the recipient only and applies to one vehicle only.

In terms of the act, the public office-bearer must have served a complete term of five years (or six in the case of the National Council chairperson) to qualify for full post-retirement benefits.

A public office-bearer who has not served the full term will be entitled to a pro-rata portion of the monetary benefits and to a full non-material benefit.

Political analyst Henning Melber says many outgoing presidents use their exit from office to dish out generous farewell benefits, saying Mbumba’s retirement seems to have ushered in “benevolent uncle time” in Namibia.

“It would have been a far more significant gesture – towards the public and a culture of solidarity guided by social welfare concerns – if instead of an increase in subsistence and travel and retirement benefits, such money would have been allocated to improve the living conditions of the marginalised … if only as a form of tokenism [towards] their daily struggle for survival,” he states.

Melber adds that, as long as people in Namibia die of hunger and children suffer from under- and malnourishment, acts to privilege the already-privileged “border on obscenity”.