
Action Coalition’s Frederico Links has cautioned against taking seriously President Hage Geingob’s promises of a cut of the cabinet and ensuring a 50/50 gender parity.
The call for a drastic reduction of the cabinet comes a long way, heralded as necessary for a country with a small population and an overstretched national budget.
“We should not invest too much into this particular speech at this point in time. Let’s wait for the more substantive statement earlier in the year. If you look at it, it’s a six-page statement with some vague rhetoric on it,” said Links.
Links conceded that a cut alone will not make the needed dent in infusing more energy to the cabinet and turning around Namibia’s static economic growth numbers.
He said Geingob has to consider the quality of the cabinet and shun away from recycling deadwood.
Echoing PDM’s McHenry Venaani, Links said Namibia could do without the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President if state resources are to be saved in this economic crunch.
Geingob made the promise at the dawn of 2020 coming from an election in which he suffered a reduction in his popularity numbers as a well as party seats in parliament, losing the two-thirds majority by one seat.
The President did acknowledge that the polls have been the most fiercely contested ones in Namibia’s poll history since the country gained independence.
Experts have said this is a punishment from an electorate that is fast feeling the pinch of rampant unemployment and the scourge of corruption.
Part of Geingob’s speech read as follows: As Government, we have listened to the cries and calls of the sovereigns. We have heard you. You pointed out areas of improvement to us. On unemployment, we heard you. On the economic situation, we heard you. On the lack of decent shelter, we heard you. On the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), where scores of students are left in dire straits due to poor implementation and execution of duties, we heard you. In the fishing sector, where fishermen lost their jobs as a consequence of mismanagement, we have also heard you. We will review all fishing quotas in order to ensure that the allocations are fair to those who have made tangible investments in this vital sector to our economic development. Our fourteen Regions will be allocated the remaining quotas to ensure accelerated development.
Investors and business people will be provided with Yes or No answers in the shortest period of time following their applications for business endeavours. I made it clear during the final Cabinet Meeting of 2019 that we can no longer conduct business as usual. The size of Cabinet shall be reduced and an attempt at 50/50 representation shall be made. Persistent lack of implementation of Government policies and programs cannot continue any longer