Namibia Must Stop Planning Development and Start Delivering

I listened attentively as president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah officially launched Namibia’s sixth National Development Plan (NDP6) this week.
I have since gone through the document.

The vision is there, the intentions are noble and the language is promising.

For that alone, I commend the president for attempting to steer this country towards inclusive economic growth and renewed national purpose.
But I must be honest: Trying is no longer enough.

Namibia is not suffering from a lack of ideas, we are suffocating under the weight of unimplemented plans.

Since independence, we have built a catalogue of national development plans: Vision 2030, the Harambee Prosperity Plans, and sector-specific policies.

Every plan begins with a launch. Every launch comes with speeches. Every speech promises progress.
Yet here we are – 34 years into independence – and tens of thousands of Namibians remain trapped by poverty, unemployment and inequality.

LISTENING IS KEY

President Nandi-Ndaitwah leads every single Namibian. Because of that, she must lead with a listening ear.

Our democracy thrives when we question, contribute and hold our leaders accountable.
Namibia has become a country of policy papers instead of practical policies.

We launch plans and bury them the next day.
Our graduates remain unemployed. Our public hospitals remain overcrowded.

Our young entrepreneurs remain underfunded.
Our food insecurity persists.

Our economy remains at the mercy of foreign extraction companies.
Our youth, especially those in rural areas, feel forgotten.

So we must ask what NDP6 will achieve that NDP1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 failed to?
The themes are familiar: Economic revival, skills development, job creation, improved healthcare, clean governance and sustainable resource use.

These are the right pillars. But the real issue is not planning.
It is execution. It is accountability. It is implementation.

For example, under NDP4, the country set out to create 90 000 jobs by 2017.

Not only was that missed but youth unemployment rose.

NDP5, launched in 2017, aimed to reduce the Gini coefficient (a measure of inequality), modernise agriculture and make small and medium enterprises the backbone of the economy.

Yet, we are still importing basic vegetables from South Africa and struggling to capitalise on our aquifers or green hydrogen promises.
Too often, our national development plans become public relations documents instead of public delivery documents.
This erodes public trust. It feeds frustration. It pushes young people to despair.

IMPLEMENTATION

If NDP6 is to be different, it must be led by discipline, backed by data, measured by results and defended by delivery.
Madam president, this is your moment.

Let it be your defining legacy – not by design, but by delivery. To do that, we must:

1. Create a credible implementation task force that is independent and technocratically strong – not comprised of the same recycled bureaucrats who watch plans decay from their offices.
2. Set timelines and public performance dashboards so that every Namibian can track what is being achieved, region by region, sector by sector.
3. Empower governors, regional councils and local authorities to implement locally.
   Development must not only live in Windhoek, it must breathe in Eenhana, Opuwo, Katima, Rundu and Keetmanshoop.
4. Reward those who deliver and fire those who delay. Political will must be stronger than personal ties.
   Implementation cannot be sacrificed at the altar of comradeship.
5. Be brutally honest with the budget. NDP6 must be costed realistically. It must not be a wish list, but a to-do list.
   Most importantly, NDP6 must deliver for the have-nots.
6. It must speak to the mother in Oshakati selling kapana to feed her children. It must matter to the teacher at Outapi whose classroom is falling apart.
   It must mean something to the unemployed engineering graduate at Swakopmund who cannot break into a closed-off economy.
   It must revive hope in the minds of young people.

ACTION AND DELIVERY

The time for action is now. The president has taken the first step in launching NDP6.

Now we the citizens must hold her and her government to account every step of the way.

We love our country too much to stay silent. We will not clap for broken promises.

Instead, we will speak, question, support and criticise – because that is how democracy lives, and how progress begins.

Let this be the plan that doesn’t gather dust. Let this be the plan that turns speeches into solutions.

• Hidipo Hamata is a former member of parliament, writing from Omafo, Helao Nafidi Town. The views expressed here are entirely his own.

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