Staff Writer
The incarcerated activists Michael Amushelelo and Dimbulukeni Nauyoma said the government should consider effecting a 30 per cent salary cut for all senior officials and public/ political officer bearers.
They also suggested the abolition of entertainment allowances, free fuel allowances to the executive and judiciary officials, and trimming the executive’s convoys.
The duo have been languishing in the Windhoek Correctional Facility since 13 May 2022, when they were arrested in connection with the Chinatown demonstration.
In a letter dated 19 June addressed to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the duo said they have solutions to how the government can raise money to fund the civil servants’ salary increases.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila could not confirm receiving the letter on Sunday but asked for questions to be sent to her office.
They said the Prime Minister should introduce a motion in parliament to reduce the seats from the current 104 to 72.
“We should not be arguing that we have no money for civil servants while we have too many politicians that just seat and sleep in the parliament,” they wrote.
According to the duo, Namibia does not need a vice president who just delivers the president’s speeches, something the Prime Minister can do.
They also said Namibia does not need deputy ministers since they have proven to be of no use.
“The deputy ministers have proven not to be of any use because ministers delegate fellow ministers to be caretakers in their absence. Thus we ask you, Madam Prime Minister through parliament, to abolish the office of vice president and seek the president to reverse the deputy ministers’ positions,” they said.
The pair raised other concerns about state-owned enterprises’ chief executive officers who also sit on other parastatals boards.
They said the government could raise money to increase civil servants’ salaries if it stops funding consumption instead of production.
“The N$1,2 billion needed for the increase of civil servants’ salaries will be recovered from sound investment the government will be making on behalf of the Namibian people,” they wrote.
Travelling around the globe begging investors to come and invest in Namibia, the pair said, is not going to work given that our economy is in junk status.
The pair suggested that the government should get rid of the Namibia Investment Promotion Board, saying it is a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“The money which is used to fund the board to travel around the world crying for investment should be used to fund agricultural projects.
“The board currently receives about N$118 million. This money must be used for agriculture so that we can achieve food security,” they wrote.
They gave the example of constructing the old storage facility at Walvis Bay, where the taxpayers paid over N$6 billion.
“Today, our people are suffering from high fuel prices and this oil storage facility was supposed to act as a buffer to ensure that our people do not suffer from high fuel prices,” they said.
They also suggested that the fuel cost could have been kept low had the government of Namibia and Angola built a refinery.
Using the example of B2Gold, currently owned by a Canadian company, the activists argue that the government could have sought the N$3 billion used to set up the mine that makes about N$15 billion in revenue per year.
“The money that will generated from the sale of the gold will be more than enough to increase the salaries of civil servants as well as plenty of money that can be directed to ensure the building of schools, clinics, hospitals, houses, provision of potable water and electricity and free university education,” they further argued.
According to Amushelelo and Dimbulukeni, the government should buy a huge stake in a gold mine discovered in Namibia with a capacity to produce 200 000 ounces of gold per year.
With gold prices set at US1 800 per ounce (N$28 292), they further argued that the government could generate about N$5 658 400 per year.
“This particular mine has a life span of about 10-15 years, giving the government more than enough revenue in that period. So, we propose that the government goes ahead and increase the salaries of civil servants while in the meantime buying a substantial amount of shares in the gold mine,” they said.
Amushelelo and Nauyoma also said the government could use the massive marine resources that contribute more than N$15 billion every year as a guarantee to secure loans to buy fishing vessels.
They said if the government buys vessels, it can employ the under-deployed fishermen who are currently being paid N$4 000 per month.
The two suggested that the government should consider nationalising the marine resources instead of auctioning the quotas.
