Angula blames parastatals for draining Govt coffers

ORGANISERS of a public lecture by Swapo presidential nominee Nahas Angula were quietly worried at first that the Thursday event would be poorly attended.

But by the time the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Employment Creation stepped onto the basketball court, a good crowd had taken their seats. The tedious introductory remarks by the organisers of the lecture, titled ‘Past, Present and Future Higher Education in Namibia’, were in sharp contrast to Angula’s tone.Taking centre court, the Minister seemed determined to indulge his humorous streak and to maintain his informal demeanour.”All protocol observed”, said Angula, pointing out that he did not want to “offend anybody because I cannot afford to offend” anyone at a time when he was involved in a three-horse race for nomination as Swapo’s presidential candidate.Then he issued a “disclaimer” that he was not a historian and apologised that he might disappoint “the young people”.Angula joked that to disappoint “young people, especially at this time” was risky “because they might have a demonstration at the right time to destroy the candidate”.During question-and-answer time, Angula sometimes triggered laughter and at other times touched raw nerves when he told his questioners to do their research first instead of assuming that the education system had failed.He railed against “professional students” who took up resources that were needed to fund the studies of newcomers, pointing out that Government funds were overstretched.The Minister also noted that it had been necessary to “liquidate” Bantu Education but admitted that “in the process, we are still struggling to get our act together.When I got in there, I was very enthusiastic – education for all, education for all.”But, said Angula, he had soon had to appreciate the fact that educational changes and the system needed to be altered to fit the times.Responding to a question about whether Namibia was prepared to borrow from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank, Angula said the Government had “not reached that stage”.He explained that the IMF often gave loans where countries were unable to balance their accounts and imports.”I hope we will not [need to borrow from the IMF]… especially if you put me there,” he said to laughter.”The institutions that are getting us in trouble as far as debt management is concerned are your parastatals.Air Namibia has a budget as big as my Ministry’s.If you don’t manage it well, that’s when you run to the IMF to get a rescue plan… and that’s when all hell breaks loose.”Angula said he hoped Namibia would not end up in such a situation as Swapo leaders had “spent much of our time in other countries in Africa [and] we have learnt something”.The tedious introductory remarks by the organisers of the lecture, titled ‘Past, Present and Future Higher Education in Namibia’, were in sharp contrast to Angula’s tone.Taking centre court, the Minister seemed determined to indulge his humorous streak and to maintain his informal demeanour.”All protocol observed”, said Angula, pointing out that he did not want to “offend anybody because I cannot afford to offend” anyone at a time when he was involved in a three-horse race for nomination as Swapo’s presidential candidate.Then he issued a “disclaimer” that he was not a historian and apologised that he might disappoint “the young people”.Angula joked that to disappoint “young people, especially at this time” was risky “because they might have a demonstration at the right time to destroy the candidate”.During question-and-answer time, Angula sometimes triggered laughter and at other times touched raw nerves when he told his questioners to do their research first instead of assuming that the education system had failed.He railed against “professional students” who took up resources that were needed to fund the studies of newcomers, pointing out that Government funds were overstretched.The Minister also noted that it had been necessary to “liquidate” Bantu Education but admitted that “in the process, we are still struggling to get our act together.When I got in there, I was very enthusiastic – education for all, education for all.”But, said Angula, he had soon had to appreciate the fact that educational changes and the system needed to be altered to fit the times.Responding to a question about whether Namibia was prepared to borrow from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank, Angula said the Government had “not reached that stage”.He explained that the IMF often gave loans where countries were unable to balance their accounts and imports.”I hope we will not [need to borrow from the IMF]… especially if you put me there,” he said to laughter.”The institutions that are getting us in trouble as far as debt management is concerned are your parastatals.Air Namibia has a budget as big as my Ministry’s.If you don’t manage it well, that’s when you run to the IMF to get a rescue plan… and that’s when all hell breaks loose.”Angula said he hoped Namibia would not end up in such a situation as Swapo leaders had “spent much of our time in other countries in Africa [and] we have learnt something”.