President Hage Geingob says he has to hold onto something on a plane whenever he is travelling, since he has become frail.
Geingob was speaking at his annual briefing on the year in retrospect at State House yesterday.
He was reacting to criticism that his government spends lavishly, including on sleek cars for both prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and her deputy, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
“You see how I’m standing here? It means I’m tired and I’m not feeling well.
“Now you tell me that I want to travel? At my age I have been travelling since the 60s, 1966, you think I enjoy it?” the president said.
He said when he travels, he has to hold onto something for support.
“A plane like this small plane of ours is shaking, and I see it, and when it moves, I’m holding on to something. You think I’m enjoying it?”
The president said there are bigger things to talk about in the government’s quest for service delivery than subsistence allowances (S&Ts) and travelling opportunities.
His remarks come just as he was scheduled to fly to Dubai yesterday for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), where he will be until 10 December.
“I’m doing it because I have to do it. Clearly S&T, what is S&T to me?
“At the World Bank I resigned and came back. It’s not a question of money,” he said.
Geingob poured cold water on the recent attacks on the government over the decision to buy vehicles worth N$2 million each as service cars for his top executive members.
“Greed is not what is motivating us, we are trying to save. These attacks on ministers’ cars, what is a car? . . . no please, we have bigger things to talk about,” he said.
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