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Pohamba?s reshuffle shows political assertiveness |
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Thursday, 10 April 2008 14:53 |
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Although the momentous Cabinet reshuffle by President Hifikepunye Pohamba this week was long overdue – it is a manifestation of political self-assertiveness and stewardship by the President.
The President’s apprehensions about the country’s slump on the global economic competitiveness rankings is worth applauding if for that reason he appointed first Prime Minister Hage Geingob as Trade and Industry Minister to address the key challenge of economic growth.
As an astute and industrious politician, Geingob is well-suited to redress and improve the capacity within the Ministry of Trade to accelerate specific export interventions and also streamline the cost of doing business in the country.
If we have to achieve Vision 2030 – the dream of becoming an industrialised nation- we need to create jobs, help alleviate poverty and propel economic growth which requires amongst other things, attracting foreign direct investment.
Geingob’s task would have been made easier had the President realised the need to reshuffle the Minister and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Our ambitions to translate the country’s blue print on economic diplomacy will remain a dream because both cadres have failed to translate diplomacy into tangible economic gains for the country.
Pohamba’s first Cabinet reshuffle since he took the helm of power, granted him the opportunity to shape up the Ministries and introduce master minders capable of attracting foreign investment and trade opportunities through economic diplomacy.
The country’s foreign policy languishes in dormancy as a result of the lethargy of the entire Foreign Affairs ministerial leadership. Pohamba’s decision to appoint Ambassador Tuliameni Kalomoh, previously an Assistant for Political Affairs to the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, as Special Advisor to the Foreign Affairs Minister, is a critical decision revitalising this under-performing ministry. Kalomoh’s wealth of experience at the UN and international affairs in general will hopefully help us out of this quagmire.
It was disappointing to learn that the Minister of Mines and Energy Erkki Nghimtina survived unscathed despite mounting evidence of corruption due to lack of oversight by the Minister, which prompted several High Court litigations against the ministry. The lack of transparency in awarding Exclusive Prospecting Licences (EPLs) of the country’s precious natural resources is a matter of concern which has been a major source of corruption at the Ministry.
Namibia’s natural resource endowment ought to be a virtual engine of national development. Without proper management, the country’s mineral resources can turn into a security threat fraught with corrupt dealings involving wanted international fugitives such as Italian mafia Vito Pallazollo, who have formed shady partnerships with politically-well connected figures such as Zackey Nujoma – the Founding Father’s son to exploit the country’s uranium.
The functions of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice in the current reshuffle should have been separated since, as admitted by the incumbent in Parliament, the administration faced a perpetual backlog of 33 000 criminal and civil cases in 2006 alone.
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Zim faces acid test in poll |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 09:12 |
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AS Zimbabwe goes to the polls on Saturday, the campaign trail has been pregnant with lessons for Namibia’s democracy as we head towards the 2009 elections, in which SWAPO will face the newly formed Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) among other parties. Zimbabwe’s election campaign has in the last two months been characterised by the denial of equal access to the media for opposition candidates and intimidation of the masses by the security forces, who have vowed not to salute “puppets”. Previous elections have been marred by allegations of rigging, violence and intimidation, and this year’s run-up to the poll has presented worrying symptoms of a growing allergy to democracy among ruling party and government officials. Equal access to the public media for all political parties and the non-partisanship of the security forces are tenets of democracy enshrined in the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC) Guidelines and Principles on Elections to which Zimbabwe and the other 13 member states have committed themselves. SADC member states subscribe to the principle that the entire security apparatus, including police, army, prisons services and air force should be apolitical and respect the wishes of the people,
but recent events in the Zimbabwe election campaign have defied that principle. While SADC guidelines are not legally binding, they show each member state’s commitment to the common goal of regional economic and political development, and defiance of such principles indicates a betrayal of the region’s development agenda. The Zimbabwean campaign has been dominated by promises of economic recovery by opposition parties, which have done a good job of trying to harness the economic crisis to their advantage, while the ruling party maintained its traditional stance of vowing to resist dominance by the west. Apart from offering Zimbabweans an opportunity to break a 10-year spell of economic stagnation that has caused immense suffering among the masses, the election serves as a test of the country’s commitment to regional democratic principles. At the beginning of this week, President Robert Mugabe, who is representing the ruling Zanu PF party as a presidential candidate in the polls, suggested that the country’s laws be amended to bar independent candidates without parties from running the for presidency. This suggestion was clearly motivated by a desire to get rid of candidates like former finance minister Simba Makoni, who has emerged as one of Mugabe’s biggest challengers to the presidency alongside Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Whatever the outcome of the Zimbabwe election, the political lessons coming out of it must not be missed. A country’s laws should not be amended to suit the narrow and myopic interests of one group of people, however powerful. Zimbabwe, faces an acid test of its commitment to democracy in Saturday’s polls, and we hope that sanity will prevail during and after the poll. |
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Inefficiencies and corruption will undermine pro-poor budget |
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Friday, 14 March 2008 11:19 |
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Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila ‘s 2008 pro-poor, budget tabled in the National Assembly last week will be futile unless the acute management and administration deficiencies are addressed. The generally good growth and macroeconomic picture is overshadowed by: the lingering high levels of poverty; high unemployment; and the country’s unequal distribution of wealth and income. While poverty has declined since independence, it remains high at 27%. With a Gini coefficient of 0.6, the inequality is amongst the highest in the world. The consequences of the widening gap between the poor and the rich are not merely a lack of resources. It fundamentally has to do with management inefficiencies and administrative deficiencies which are intrinsically linked to corruption. Hence, with the huge budgetary provisions, taxpayer’s monies will be thrown into a bottomless pit if we do not improve management skills. The Executive has to depoliticise the appointment of technocrats and appoint officials on the basis of merit to overcome the challenge of inefficiency. Little has been emphasised in the budget in terms of improving macro-economic efficiency or diversifying the economy in order to create employment opportunities. Local economic pundits’ concerns have been supported by the IMF Executive Board stating that potential downside risks arise mainly from uncertainties regarding the global environment and slow progress in economic diversification. President Hifikepunye Pohamba has been commended by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for introducing macroeconomic management which has led to a robust economic growth subdued by inflation, large current account surpluses and a strengthened foreign reserve position. Although he received praise for making progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, little is being reflected in the budget in terms of lowering high unemployment, the poverty rate and an economy vulnerable to shocks.
Governance has improved over the last few years since the President put an end to the culture of political cronies lobbying for guarantees from State House to bankroll their businesses without holding them accountable for their unpaid multi-million dollar debts. Another challenge that could undermine the good intentions of the pro-poor budget is our bloated civil service. Personnel expenditure remains high and should be reduced in the context of comprehensive reform of the civil service. Improved expenditure prioritisation is needed within the context of the new medium-term expenditure framework. We should emphasise the importance of reducing risks to the budget through strengthened oversight of public enterprises by urgently bringing the State-Owned Enterprises Act into force. It is however not clear how Government will achieve increased oversight of SOEs, after abruptly shutting down the much trumpeted Central Governance Agency without offering a word of explanation to the public. The decision to use part of the recent strong receipts from the Southern Customs Union (SACU) to reduce public debt through fiscal surpluses should be welcomed as a sign of sound fiscal management.
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Dangerous political rhetoric posses risks |
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Friday, 29 February 2008 10:36 |
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President Hifikepunye Pohamba shocked his supporters when he recently stooped to low politics - launching an emotional tirade against the principal figures behind the formation of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) labeling them “traitors like Judas” at a rally at Omuthiya on Saturday. Some Swapo leaders, who do not understand the difference between Government and Party politics sunk to the base level of inciting supporters to deny RDP members basic human rights such as access to water and economic opportunities by boycotting shops owned by RDP members. The then colonial apartheid regime commonly
used this kind of emotional rhetoric against Swapo affiliated businesspeople before independence. Such tactics should have become obsolete in an independent Namibia where basic needs such as education, health, social welfare are the real priorities. Pohamba should be above low-politics, because as President of the country every political utterance by him mirrors the country’s direction as seen by the outside world. Of course, as President of the Swapo Party we expect the President of Swapo to steadfastly campaign for a successful election for his party and we believe he has wide room to take on his party’s opponents on principle and policy issues rather than personal attacks. Pohamba can lay claim to many successful policy initiatives such as his campaign for zerotolerance of corruption and efforts to foster good governance. Another critical issue the post -apatheid Swapo government can lay claim to is broad consulatation on issues of national importance. The policy of inviting opposition parties to State House to discuss and brief the President on issues of common interest has taken firm root under President Pohamba. Our parliamentarians have made an oath to respect multiparty-party parliamentary democracy and a competitive political environment should be condoned in order to harness the future of our democracy. Political hate speech has no place in a multi-party democracy, and could have dangerous destabilising consequences leading to political and economic meltdown as seen in Zimbabwe, and more recently in Kenya. What is happening in Kenya and Zimbabwe should force Namibian politicians to do some soul-searching and ask themselves, why do we keep sliding back to bad ways? Our leaders have to take most of the blame for leading the country down the wrong track. Too often on this continent Africa’s leaders have ignored the suffering of ordinary people while descending to petty self-serving politics, and most Namibians fervently hope our country will not follow the same path Africa’s leaders including our own leaders in this country have been quite content to go along with the herd instead of trying to differentiate themselves based on issues and policies. Despite constant protestations about “offensive African stereotyping, our politicians are doing pretty a good job of suggesting that Africans are incapable of running a country”.
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Namibia shouldn't be home to global fugitives |
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Thursday, 21 February 2008 13:57 |
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Namibia’s attraction of the most wanted CIA and FBI international fugitives is cause for concern
given the fragility of greed amongst some of our decision makers and the country’s energy needs. Amongst the various characters said to be scrambling for the country’s natural riches include some well-known international fraudsters who have been frequenting a prominent restaurant in the company of politically well-connected Namibian figures. At stake is the country’s uranium and diamond riches and the critical energy needs that have attracted the controversial alleged Mafia boss, Vito Palazolo and of late the American born billionaire fugitive Marc Rich who has been heavily linked to Afroneft Limited – which was awarded a multi-million dollar tender to supply the country with fuel by the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) parastatal. The multi-million dollar fuel importation tender was awarded to Afroneft last year for the period of January 1 to December 31 after the tender by the previous suppliers, Namibia Liquid Fuel (NLF) Ltd expired last year. Afroneft, registered in the British Virgin Islands – a tax heaven for criminals, is co-owned by Glencore – a money making scheme for Rich who fled the United States in 1983 to live in Switzerland while being prosecuted on charges of tax evasion and illegally making oil deals with Iran during the hostage crisis. Palazolo’s relationship with the Founding Father’s son Zackey Nujoma and the recent controversial relationship between Afroneft and Namcor have not only raised security concerns in our dealings with international fugitives but also suggests that there are underhanded dealings in the management of our natural resources. The allegedly Mafia linked Palazolo family is suing Informanté and The Namibian newspaper for exposés revealing the Mafia boss’s involvement in the exploitation of the country’s diamond and uranium riches for N$7 million and N$4 million respectively. Informanté has received several warnings from members of the public that the international fugitives have contracted agents to “eliminate” nosy journalists who are bound to ruin their business interests in the country. Exposing shady deals by international fugitives and their politically connected local cronies should receive the backing of the State because it is in the national interest that such corrupt dealings should be exposed. Threatening journalists should not be legitimatised and the State should pronounce itself on this anomaly rather than sanctioning intimidation of journalists. One wonders whether parastatals and our decision makers conduct any due diligence before awarding tenders to these companies, most of which have clearly questionable backgrounds. The business dealings of our decision makers continue to jeorpadise the country’s image and security. The risks of the country losing out on these deals are very high, as is clear from the track record of the people behind these companies. The tender process is meant to separate genuine contractors from those that have questionable
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