Vision 2030: The Path to Nowhere?
By: Ndumba J KamwanyahIT IS a little bit over 15 years since this nation mooted a big, new idea (ambitiously named Vision 2030), setting us in the footsteps of Malaysia’s grand ideas of development. But how far are we?
Vision 2030, signed by Sam Nujoma in 2004, is supposed to be the ‘North Star’ that guides our national development agenda towards a prosperous, developed and industrialised Namibia. Founded on Nujoma’s thinking that to define clearly “where we are today as a nation, where we want to be by 2030 and how to get there,” is to envision the development future of Namibia. Therefore, as a national framework, Vision 2030 spells out our long-term development course in terms of policy strategies, programmes and steps to be taken up until the target year 2030.
Sam Nujoma has long faded from the governing scene. But so fades away his big dream of improving the quality of life of the Namibian people to the level of their counterparts in the affluent nations by 2030. And worst of all, many poor and destitute Namibians who pinned all their hopes on this vision have to accept the reality that Vision 2030 may not be realised. And perhaps not even in their generation!
On the Web, the National Planning Commission (NPC) (a government body in charge of implementing the Vision) writes that “people must be made aware of the Vision and be part of the formulation process; otherwise they are likely to regard it as another official government paper.” Beautifully stated!
However the NPC’s stewardship of this national vision is an epic failure. Vision 2030 exists only in words on paper but not in practice. And if it does exist, there is no evidence on the ground suggesting that this grand initiative is being implemented successfully. The only body of evidence (which dates back to 2001 and 2002) that can indicate some sort of implementation include a media conference conducted by the vision management team in May 2001; a sensitisation workshop/mission to all the 13 political regions of the country in August 2001; a one-week ‘National Aspirations Conference’ in May 20-24, 2002.
In addition, apparently, the management team has also designed and implemented a ‘Media Programme’, meant to publicise aspects of the visioning process (through radio, television and print media) and encouraged public participation. That’s progress? I am sorry to disappoint because these are not the type of sustained activities demanded in implementing this very important national economic development framework. Nor is the current pace we are going at. I want to think that implementing a national development framework of this nature would require a continuous, methodical and rigorous approach, especially when it comes to making sure that the framework is integrated in everything the government does. More importantly, let’s use the opportunity presented by the vision to innovate, test new ideas and unveil new initiatives in the education sector, health, job creation, rural development, clean energy, technology areas and so forth.
Just to be clear here: I’m not the only one concerned about the fate of the vision. Bob Kandetu penned about it last year. Equally, some years back, Henning Melber warned that it is too broad and lacks specifics. So does the columnist Alexactus T Kaure, the media (print and social media), and the public too. But those concerns seem to be met with muteness (if not contempt) instead of seeing them as presenting a timely opportunity to refocus our Vision 2030 approach. Perhaps because those concerns don’t sound patriotic enough due to the apparent thinking in the Swapo-led government that if it comes from an opposition party, analyst, media or columnist then it is a sell-out idea and a losing strategy when it comes to national development. Therefore, let there be no doubts I (I suspect other commentators too) want the government and Namibia to succeed, and succeed big. Period.
Is the reason why we seem not to get the vision off the ground because we have designed a bad plan that is unworkable and cannot be implemented or that we have been pitching it solely on rhetorical grounds by over-promising things we cannot do? That I don’t know. However, I do know that the current approach is not working. And that rhetoric chants (we can shout at the top of our voices as many times as we want to) about economic development alone are not guarantee that Vision 2030 will be realised. But failure can be a potent prompter for self-improvement. Therefore let’s learn from this failure and refocus our national development agenda. Namibia deserves better! Let’s put our heads together and finish what we promised the Namibian people.