Personal Financial Management for Politicians

Following last year’s presidential and national elections, there have been many political changes in Namibia.

This will continue with our regional and local authority elections slated for the end of the year.

The past few months and especially the past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster.

The weather was weathering and everyone was talking. We saw some senior ministers becoming ordinary backbenchers and some even becoming part of the country’s unemployment statistics.

We saw ordinary people we didn’t even know were Swapo members joining the Cabinet and now heading crucial ministries.

We saw governors sent home, though we thought for a while that their fate would be determined in the next few months.

We saw a new political party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), becoming the official opposition party, kicking the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) to number five.

The president of an opposition party even blamed tribalism for its non-performance in the elections.

A lot was happening, and all of this involved politicians’ personal finances.

A political career offers great rewards and requires no qualifications.

All one needs is confidence, charisma and public speaking skills.

Namibians in general are financially illiterate, and politicians are no exception.

Also, the political space has been entered by a number of young and naive people, with the youngest member of parliament (MP) being 22 years old.

The majority of them will realise their income has doubled or even tripled.

This can be overwhelming for some.

During the December holidays, I sat around a table with a then MP-elect, who couldn’t hide their excitement about going to parliament.

They said they had already written and signed their resignation letter and were only awaiting ‘the day’ to strike, so they could hand them to their appointing authority.

A political position is a five-year contract, hence the need to start off with the end in mind.

It’s crucial that every politician has a financial plan, and a plan for life after politics.

Now that the dust has settled and the majority of politicians know their fate for the next five years, here is some advice:

1. Plan your retirement: Those who recently joined the parliament and have been working for a while and had retirement benefits will be tempted to spend the retirement savings from their previous job. Please don’t! Especially if you are older than 35.

Convert this into a preservation fund.

It’s also good to supplement your retirement savings with a retirement annuity.

2. Educate yourself: Those who are young or middle-aged and uneducated should enrol themselves at university so they can acquire some skills.

In case your political career comes to an end in five years, you would have acquired a skill that will enable you to secure a job outside of politics.

3. Leverage your network to create wealth: The political space exposes you to a lot of people and opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise. Use your acquired network and opportunity to create wealth.

A word of caution: Do so legally, in good faith, with sincerity and no malice.

4. Save and invest: As mentioned above, the majority of politicians’ income double or triple.

Do not increase your spending unnecessarily.

Instead, increase your investments. I suggest 20% of your gross income should be invested.

5. Work hard: Be diligent at your job so that when the next terms come, you have demonstrated to the electorate and your party president that you can deliver.

Participate in issues of national concern, go to grass-roots level and talk to the people who gave you the opportunity to serve. Don’t let the title of ‘honourable’ go to your head.

I wish you all well in your new positions.

Let’s serve our motherland, Namibia, with diligence and care.

• Niilonga Amukwiyu is a credit, risk and compliance professional. She writes in her personal capacity and can be reached at shatiamukwiyu@gmail.com

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