THE Office of the President was first in line to motivate its budget vote – Vote 01 – for which it defended an allocation of N$356,28 million on Thursday and Friday, with the allocations for Intelligence and the Office of the Founding Father sparking the strongest arguments.
•Intelligence – N$152,6 million
•Office of the Founding Father – N$33,7 million
Motivating the vote, Presidential Affairs Minister Albert Kawana explained that under the Office of the President, the five key programmatic areas include the protection and defence of the Namibian Constitution for which N$147,5 million has been allocated, the Delivery of Services with an allocation of N$14,5 million, Intelligence with N$152,6 million, the Office of the Founding Father with N$33,7 million, and the Cabinet Secretariat with N$8,7 million.
Under the ‘protection and defence of the Constitution’ programme, the Minister said more than 70 per cent of this allocation (N$105 million) would go toward the completion of the office block at the new State House.
‘This figure covers activities such as landscaping, furniture and equipment, and purchase of land,’ Kawana explained.
Hundreds of millions have already been spent on the new State House, which Kawana confirmed is 95 per cent complete.
When questions were posed by Tsudao Gurirab of the Congress of Democrats as to what final figure was being worked with given the presence of the building of State House on the budget for the past three years, Kawana noted that with completion earmarked for October, a final figure would be provided then.
Under the Intelligence Programme, which operates under the Namibia Central Intelligence Service Act of 1997, Kawana defended a N$105,56 million allocation by noting that the contributes to the accumulated intelligence along with law enforcement agencies, including combating the threat of terrorist activity.
He would not go into detail on the work of the Intelligence service, noting that ‘the nature of the work of this institution does not allow me to elaborate further,’ but maintained that ‘the Security of our nation is not negotiable.’
While Gurirab questioned the 32 per cent increase in the allocation for Intelligence, asking whether the increase correlated to an increased threat to Namibia’s security; Peter Ilonga, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, called for an increase in the allocation, stating ‘the Intelligence are the eyes and ears of the Namibian nation’, and stating that more sophisticated technologies and resources need to be acquired to place Namibia’s intelligence with that in and beyond Africa’s borders.
Kawana also came out in strong defence of the N$33,7 million allocation for the Office of the Founding Father, for which N$26,8 million is going towards ‘development purposes, including the Office of the Founding President.’
The allocation was questioned by Nora Schimming-Chase of the CoD and Michael Goreseb of the United Democratic Front (UDF), who questioned the effectiveness of this office in addressing the needs of the general populace and creating real value for the poor.
But Kawana, supported by other Swapo MPs, vehemently defended the allocation to the Office in which former President Sam Nujoma performs ceremonial functions, attends official functions, and carries out functions provided for under the Former Presidents’ Pension and other Benefits Act of 2004.
‘Allow me to state in no uncertain terms that in keeping with our democratic culture, our Swapo Party Government will continue to address the welfare of our Former Presidents, including our Founding President,’ Kawana stated, adding that ‘Namibia should never be like many developing countries where the home of a living former head of state is either Europe or North America.’
He argued that the allocation for the Office of the Founding Father was in line with ‘the new culture in some SADC countries including Namibia where a former head of state is well protected and respected.’
The vote was approved on Friday, after no objections were raised.
nangula@namibian.com.na
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