A Critical Appraisal of Sona

PIECEMEAL NO SOLUTIONSome figures on limited service delivery – such as the construction of houses, sanitation and roads – cannot replace a conceptual approach on how best to meet the structural challenges for building a people-centred economy and society. Nor does the increase in some social payments offer sustainable solutions, despite providing relief for the poorest.The flurry of consultative bodies responsible for advising on specific issues is not proactive. It is dubious gap-filling while the line ministries and Cabinet (not to mention the so-called A-team in State House) do not perform.This year's Sona was lost in detail without offering a fundamental approach to governance. It highlighted the “challenges of unemployment, land and housing delivery backlog and contracting economic growth”, then quickly pointed to the four-time bigger GDP since the apartheid era as a success story.It forgot to mention that the debt sky-rocketed during the same period – from zero to more than 70% of GDP. Just a day before the Sona, Moody's downgraded Namibia's junk status one notch further, identifying long-term debts as a too risky investment.Sona refers to “times of fiscal constraints” but claims that the government “will make interventions when so required, based on available resources”. It remains silent on the kind of interventions and that such resources are not available. It anticipates “economic tailwinds that could potentially propel us toward an era of growth and opportunity” – without any indication of when and how.RESOURCE EXPLOITATION AS A PANACEAThere are some sober insights such as the “growth did not result in a reduction in unemployment”. Sona admits “the old ways of doing things can no longer bring us the results that we need to take us to the promise of prosperity”. But it remained tight-lipped on new ways, just offering a metaphor of building new doors for opportunities to knock on.These are associated with green hydro energy and the ammonia industry. However, urgent clarification on the tenders awarded and the competence of those responsible for implementation is missing. The ownership of such operations and their beneficiaries remain similarly clouded.References to offshore oil and gas exploration by multinational companies also lack transparency. As pie in the sky, it holds no direct relevance for the next few years. It remains unclear to which extent Namibians can really benefit from resource exploitation by foreign investments. Revealingly, Recon is not mentioned at all.LACK OF COHERENCEThe Sona has contradictions: Namibia's status as a higher middle-income country is bemoaned as misleading. Socio-economic realities are ignored by calculating the average annual per capita income by equally dividing GDP. This hides that Namibia and South Africa are the world's most unequal countries.After 32 years of independence, the government should explain why a redistributive policy failed. Instead, Sona 2022 reaffirms Vision 2030 “of an industrialised Namibia, a dynamic upper-middle-income (sic) country with an upward trajectory and a strong base upon which to build its ambitions”.Reference to the war in Ukraine is incoherent too and euphemistically addressed as the “Russian-Ukraine conflict” and a “conflict between neighbouring states”. To clarify, Russia invaded Ukraine in an act of war to occupy a sovereign state.The Sona claims that Namibia “promotes a world where all people can freely enjoy their freedom and sovereignty without interference”. It advocates the right to self-determination for the Palestinian and Sahrawi people. However, the same right seems not to apply to the people of Ukraine.UNSTATESMANLIKEThe well-mannered behaviour by members of the august house – with the usual passive if not absent-minded MPs of Swapo – was a pleasant surprise. By contrast, the president remained his usual self by responding over-sensitively to queries. Brushing aside criticism of the government's handling of the bilateral genocide negotiations and misreading it as a personal attack did not help.Nor did the singling out of individuals. Ridiculing the leader of the official opposition was as unnecessary as the dismissive remarks about a Namibian abroad. These impromptu hits below the belt lacked statesman-like authority.The president reacts in an almost knee-jerk way, aggressively flippant, when he feels challenged. Such habitual rebukes lack arguments and dent his image as a dignified head of state.His behaviour contradicted the Sona message, appealing to “the mantle of unity” at the start and advocating “standing together, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand” at the end. Integrity means to walk the talk.* Henning Melber joined Swapo in 1974. He headed the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru) from 1992 to 2000.

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