Political Perspective

By: GWEN LISTER

SO, outgoing President Sam Nujoma will be getting a retirement package.

No big surprise there, but let's hope that prudence will be the

order of the day when the details of the proposed Bill emerge in

Parliament.

The President himself, after all, has frequently been a

proponent of a 'tightening of the belt' policy, so we would hope

that his payout would be a modest one that takes into consideration

the circumstances Namibia finds itself in.

 

IT'S often said that politicians don't usually seek elected

office or appointed government posts with the sole intention of

becoming rich from these earnings.

 

In principle, public service should be a higher calling with the

aim of serving a nation, but in practice many politicians

throughout the world, even if they don't earn handsome salaries,

usually have the connections to earn quite a lot 'on the side'.

 

If we look at the situation in the US, it is normally the

already wealthy who seek public office.

 

Incumbent President George W Bush is extremely wealthy in his

own right, for example.

 

As part owner of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team,

he netted a handsome US$14,9 million from the sale of the team in

1998.

 

This is obviously in addition to his other business

interests.

 

A search on the Internet revealed that US President Bill Clinton

earned US$200 000 annually but he increased the presidential salary

to US$400 000 effective when Bush came to office.

 

On top of salary and expense accounts, the US President is given

free housing and plenty of amenities.

 

The White House of course and Camp David the Presidential

retreat.

 

On retirement (these figures as at 2000), the US President

receives a US$150 000 pension; US$50 000 expense account; US$100

000 non-taxable for travel; a US$19 000 entertainment account and

free housing.

 

The Namibian Parliament, in considering the President's

retirement package (and at this point we have no information of

what it entails) obviously cannot make comparisons with the package

outlined above for the US President, for example.

 

I suppose the personal wealth of a President has no bearing on

the retirement package, and it would not be fair to make it so.

 

But I do think that Namibia needs to fairly and transparently

assess the retirement packages of all its political elite,

regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

 

There are several, for example, who have served in the top ranks

of Government and who get generous monthly pensions, and yet are

lucratively employed elsewhere.

 

Government talks a lot about the private sector 'putting back'

but one sees little evidence of any of the above mentioned doing

the same.

 

Yet in the course of their 'public service' (a misnomer in

certain cases) many of these politicians have amassed personal

wealth.

 

We do not know what President Sam Nujoma is worth.

 

We do know he has a farm near Otavi; a filling station in the

same area; a house at Henties Bay; a home in the North; a house

just outside Windhoek; as well as, of course, State House in

addition to free access to facilities in Terrace Bay and

Swakopmund.

 

Were we more transparent with our so-called declaration of

interests of top political office-bearers, we might know more, but

this is not the case at present.

 

To conclude, I personally hope the package is modest.

 

I also hope that Government will, in future, be more transparent

about the public and private earnings of all political

office-bearers because they owe it to the people of a country in

which the gap between rich and poor is one of the largest in the

world.

 

The President himself, after all, has frequently been a proponent

of a 'tightening of the belt' policy, so we would hope that his

payout would be a modest one that takes into consideration the

circumstances Namibia finds itself in.IT'S often said that

politicians don't usually seek elected office or appointed

government posts with the sole intention of becoming rich from

these earnings.In principle, public service should be a higher

calling with the aim of serving a nation, but in practice many

politicians throughout the world, even if they don't earn handsome

salaries, usually have the connections to earn quite a lot 'on the

side'.If we look at the situation in the US, it is normally the

already wealthy who seek public office.Incumbent President George W

Bush is extremely wealthy in his own right, for example.As part

owner of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team, he netted a

handsome US$14,9 million from the sale of the team in 1998.This is

obviously in addition to his other business interests.A search on

the Internet revealed that US President Bill Clinton earned US$200

000 annually but he increased the presidential salary to US$400 000

effective when Bush came to office.On top of salary and expense

accounts, the US President is given free housing and plenty of

amenities.The White House of course and Camp David the Presidential

retreat.On retirement (these figures as at 2000), the US President

receives a US$150 000 pension; US$50 000 expense account; US$100

000 non-taxable for travel; a US$19 000 entertainment account and

free housing.The Namibian Parliament, in considering the

President's retirement package (and at this point we have no

information of what it entails) obviously cannot make comparisons

with the package outlined above for the US President, for example.I

suppose the personal wealth of a President has no bearing on the

retirement package, and it would not be fair to make it so.But I do

think that Namibia needs to fairly and transparently assess the

retirement packages of all its political elite, regardless of

whether they are rich or poor.There are several, for example, who

have served in the top ranks of Government and who get generous

monthly pensions, and yet are lucratively employed

elsewhere.Government talks a lot about the private sector 'putting

back' but one sees little evidence of any of the above mentioned

doing the same.Yet in the course of their 'public service' (a

misnomer in certain cases) many of these politicians have amassed

personal wealth.We do not know what President Sam Nujoma is

worth.We do know he has a farm near Otavi; a filling station in the

same area; a house at Henties Bay; a home in the North; a house

just outside Windhoek; as well as, of course, State House in

addition to free access to facilities in Terrace Bay and

Swakopmund.Were we more transparent with our so-called declaration

of interests of top political office-bearers, we might know more,

but this is not the case at present.To conclude, I personally hope

the package is modest.I also hope that Government will, in future,

be more transparent about the public and private earnings of all

political office-bearers because they owe it to the people of a

country in which the gap between rich and poor is one of the

largest in the world.

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