Editorial: The Non-Priority Spending Spiral
THERE are some positive signs that, increasingly, Namibians are making a connection between the wastefulness of certain lavish Government expenditures seen against the stark contrast of rising poverty and unemployment in Namibia.
Not enough, unfortunately, to make national elections later this
year issue-driven, but nevertheless indicating that more and more
people are speaking out in public fora and in the letters pages of
newspapers against taxpayers money being spent on non-essential
issues.
A UN report this week again pointed out the seriousness of the
humanitarian crisis developing in southern Africa, Namibia
included, with particular emphasis on the plight of orphans and
women and the latter's inability to access critical necessities
such as food, clean water, education and health care.
And while the developed world is expected to fund programmes
through UN agencies, to extend the hand of help to marginalised and
vulnerable groups, our own Government does not seem to let up in
its spending on non-priorities, despite verbal promises to the
contrary.
The examples are legion where money is lavished on the
refurbishment of government offices; increased furniture allowances
for MPs; an extended foreign trip for the President; a
Government-funded campaign trip for Swapo's presidential
candidate-cum-lands minister; sudden familiarisation trips for
ministers and deputies in office for more than five years; and the
purchase of expensive vehicles for political office bearers.
Neither singly nor in combination can the abovementioned be
described as priorities, and despite criticism for several years of
these expenditures primarily by the media, there has been scant
public assent.
But this appears to be changing.
Nowadays, ordinary Namibians are indeed questioning Government
'priorities' - from the building of a luxurious new State House to
the purchase of over-priced vehicles.
But Namibians will have to speak louder if they want Government
to hear.
No one can doubt that the ruling party has been elected, time
after time since Independence, and with increased majorities each
time, but seldom, if ever, have issues played a role.
The vote has always been an emotive
'vote-for-Swapo-because-they-liberated-us' groundswell feeling, but
one gets the impression this is changing, albeit slowly.
Certainly not fast enough for the ruling party to sit up and
take notice of the fact that people are making a connection.
The President himself, vocal a year or two ago on the waste of
non-essential jaunts abroad for Government officials - and
insisting that such trips be personally approved by him - has
lately been criss-crossing the globe, apparently to bid farewell
before his term of office expires.
He has been to, among others, several African countries as well
as Cuba, Brazil, China, Malaysia, and is still to travel to the US
and other places.
Hard to imagine what has been achieved for the country, except
to cement already existing ties with some of these places.
Whether his visits even generated much publicity in the
countries he's visited is not known, so one is inclined to ask
therefore: what was the purpose of this extended trip abroad if not
simply to bid adieu before he steps down.
And then once he's done that, we probably have to send his
successor abroad for the purposes of introducing him, so the spiral
never ends! Certainly there are times when our Head of State's
presence is not only required, but also necessary, but it would be
gratifying if at such times his office could spell this out to the
public at large, rather than simply inform them of his departure
and return.
A letter in today's edition complains about the non-essential
nature of a refurbishing of the chamber of our national Parliament;
and this week The Namibian reported a lavish, tender-exempted 4x4
purchase for the Attorney General.
The money spent on those items, as well as many other examples
of Government excess, could definitely have been better spent
elsewhere.
One would hope that this renewed sense of priorities is
something that Namibians will demand explanations of in the future,
and hopefully it will lead to change in terms of what the real
needs of the country are.
A UN report this week again pointed out the seriousness of the
humanitarian crisis developing in southern Africa, Namibia
included, with particular emphasis on the plight of orphans and
women and the latter's inability to access critical necessities
such as food, clean water, education and health care.And while the
developed world is expected to fund programmes through UN agencies,
to extend the hand of help to marginalised and vulnerable groups,
our own Government does not seem to let up in its spending on
non-priorities, despite verbal promises to the contrary.The
examples are legion where money is lavished on the refurbishment of
government offices; increased furniture allowances for MPs; an
extended foreign trip for the President; a Government-funded
campaign trip for Swapo's presidential candidate-cum-lands
minister; sudden familiarisation trips for ministers and deputies
in office for more than five years; and the purchase of expensive
vehicles for political office bearers.Neither singly nor in
combination can the abovementioned be described as priorities, and
despite criticism for several years of these expenditures primarily
by the media, there has been scant public assent.But this appears
to be changing.Nowadays, ordinary Namibians are indeed questioning
Government 'priorities' - from the building of a luxurious new
State House to the purchase of over-priced vehicles.But Namibians
will have to speak louder if they want Government to hear.No one
can doubt that the ruling party has been elected, time after time
since Independence, and with increased majorities each time, but
seldom, if ever, have issues played a role.The vote has always been
an emotive 'vote-for-Swapo-because-they-liberated-us' groundswell
feeling, but one gets the impression this is changing, albeit
slowly.Certainly not fast enough for the ruling party to sit up and
take notice of the fact that people are making a connection.The
President himself, vocal a year or two ago on the waste of
non-essential jaunts abroad for Government officials - and
insisting that such trips be personally approved by him - has
lately been criss-crossing the globe, apparently to bid farewell
before his term of office expires.He has been to, among others,
several African countries as well as Cuba, Brazil, China, Malaysia,
and is still to travel to the US and other places.Hard to imagine
what has been achieved for the country, except to cement already
existing ties with some of these places.Whether his visits even
generated much publicity in the countries he's visited is not
known, so one is inclined to ask therefore: what was the purpose of
this extended trip abroad if not simply to bid adieu before he
steps down.And then once he's done that, we probably have to send
his successor abroad for the purposes of introducing him, so the
spiral never ends! Certainly there are times when our Head of
State's presence is not only required, but also necessary, but it
would be gratifying if at such times his office could spell this
out to the public at large, rather than simply inform them of his
departure and return.A letter in today's edition complains about
the non-essential nature of a refurbishing of the chamber of our
national Parliament; and this week The Namibian reported a lavish,
tender-exempted 4x4 purchase for the Attorney General.The money
spent on those items, as well as many other examples of Government
excess, could definitely have been better spent elsewhere.One would
hope that this renewed sense of priorities is something that
Namibians will demand explanations of in the future, and hopefully
it will lead to change in terms of what the real needs of the
country are.