N$2b MCA funding takes effect

PRIME Minister Nahas Angula yesterday said he didn’t really mind when his ‘young friends in the Swapo electoral college’ threatened to throw him out recently, as he would have simply ‘put on another hat’ and got involved in skills development projects funded by the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

Standing in for President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who was called away on ‘urgent matters’ at the last minute, the Prime Minister launched the implementation of the US government’s N$2 billion MCA programme in Namibia.’I’m also a beneficiary,’ Angula said.’When my young friends in the Swapo electoral college threatened to throw me out, I didn’t really mind,’ he said.The Prime Minister, who used to be a teacher in exile, hinted that he would have got involved in the various community skills development projects for which the MCA Namibia makes provision. The five-year agreement earmarked more than N$1 billion to improve education in the country. ‘All I can say to the youth is: here we come!’ the Prime Minister said.Scanning the audience in vain for Education Minister Nangolo Mbumba, Angula said: ‘The Minister is preparing for the election, that’s why he is not here.’Nevertheless, Minister Mbumba ‘is worth US$145 million from today (yesterday)’, Angula said, referring to the MCA Namibia education budget.Turning his attention to tourism, the Prime Minister said the Ministry of Environment and Tourism is ‘US$67 million richer from today (yesterday)’.’I hope tourism will now benefit people of my type,’ Angula said.Focusing on agriculture, the third sector that will receive money from the MCA, the Prime Minister addressed Agriculture Minister John Mutorwa in the audience, saying: ‘You’re US$47 million richer from today (yesterday). I hope you improve nutrition and create food security in Namibia.’The Prime Minister kept the mood light until he started reading the President’s keynote address, in which he thanked the US government for their generosity and support over the years to fight poverty and stimulate economic growth in Namibia.The MCA has been shrouded in controversy after the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) late last year accused the US government of trying to take over the Etosha National Park through private US investors by offering the Namibian Government the US$304,5 million compact.Heated political debates were sparked after the SPYL claimed to have seen a leaked version of the MCA agreement between the two governments, in which the Ministry of Environment and Tourism apparently agreed to award two lodges or exclusive access concessions for Etosha and an additional two lodges within other national parks in northern Namibia for a minimum of 10 years to private sector and conservancy joint ventures. The SPYL complained that this might open the door to American investors to take over Namibia’s prime tourism spot.Both MCA Namibia Chief Executive Officer Penny Akwenye and Ray Castillo, Public Affairs Officer for the American Embassy in Windhoek, said at the time that all concessions would be offered through well-publicised public tenders.None of the official speeches yesterday contained a hint of the controversy, except for repeated assurances that all the bidding for MCA Namibia projects, not just those in the tourism sector, will have to be done through open tenders.In a booklet on the MCA Namibia Compact released at the launch, Etosha is singled out to ‘serve as a model for increased participation by the adjacent conservancies’.’The MCA Namibia Tourism Project will facilitate access to the park for the conservancies around it through exclusive access conditions, to be awarded through the 2007 Concession Policy,’ the booklet says.According to the document, the tourism project ‘will improve the management capacity of the Etosha National Park (ENP), promote private sector investment in tourism in this area, and increase tourism revenue benefiting rural communal conservancies’. The programme will provide technical assistance to support improved park management and a study of tourism carrying capacity, ‘as well as support for potential tourism investments in and around ENP and other national parks in the north’.’MCC funds will also improve infrastructure for management centres and ENP staff housing, road building and maintenance capacity and the purchase of game translocation equipment,’ it states. (Also read report in Bottomline on page 15.)jo-mare@namibian.com.na