At the closing of the three-day Cabinet retreat at Walvis Bay, the President said he expected speedy results from his ministers in addressing Namibia's most pressing socio-economic needs.

Besides mitigating the impact of food, fuel and power prices, he said short-term programmes also must be in place for the provision of adequate housing and sanitation, the securing of local food production and micro-credit access.

Namibia must have the capability of generating its own electricity within three years, he said.

"I urge the relevant parties to ensure that power-generation projects are implemented and that tangible improvement becomes visible within the next three years," he said, particularly referring to the Baines, Kudu, and Walvis Bay power projects.

He said the necessary resources were available and planned power projects should be realised so as not to jeopardise Government's efforts to create a sound economic base.

The issue of adequate housing - especially sanitation - also needed urgent attention, he said.

In fact, President Pohamba expects proper sanitation facilities - abolishing the hated "bucket system" - to be in place within the current financial year.

He said 70 per cent of Namibian households could not afford conventional housing and about 55 per cent did not have access to toilets.

"This is not even close to achieving the Millennium Development Goals set for sanitation.

We must move ahead with determination to utilise the funds that we have set aside by providing proper sanitation facilities for our citizens," he said.

A critical goal, according to the President, is to increase local food production and create markets for local producers.

"I am specifically referring to the need to create a local food production and supply chain that will provide for the needs of our military, the Police, school hostels and hospitals."

He said immediate attention must be given to taking advantage of Namibia's abundant resources offering high potential for value addition and good conditions for diversification.

He said the obstacles in the way of developing a vibrant production and manufacturing sector for export-quality goods also needed to be addressed.

In line with this, it was recommended at the retreat that a micro-finance bank be established to improve access to capital for small businesses.

This would accelerate commercial development, especially in the communal areas, and also address poverty caused by unemployment and the increasing cost of living.

"Micro-finance can be a strategic tool for addressing the pervasive poverty, unequal distribution of national income and high unemployment," Pohamba said.

He reiterated that medium and long-term plans, such as NDP3 and Vision 2030, were "but successions of short-term programmes and strategies".

He demanded "urgent and speedy" implementation of the short- and medium-term programmes, and performance contracts to be put in place.

"All of us must be held accountable.

Indeed, I will continue to hold ministers accountable for the performance of those [they delegate]," he said.

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