Political Perspective

MANAGING money seems to be one of the biggest difficulties of all for Namibians, regardless of whether they’ve got a lot, or only a little; also regardless of whether it’s Government or an NGO! The examples are manifold – from parastatals that cannot seem to handle their investments properly to the Parliamentarian who doesn’t know how to do his or her taxes to the ordinary employee who cannot budget.

It is really something we are going to have to learn to do – fast – or a lot of organisations and individuals are going to slide down the slippery slope to bankruptcy and financial ruin. WE see this manifest in everyday examples in the news and elsewhere.Whether it is Government itself that cannot pay its bills to local municipalities, or the CEO who is compelled to beg, steal or borrow because of his expensive cocaine habit, or an ordinary employee who doesn’t realise that what you buy on credit has to be paid back – we do have a big problem that we need to tackle as speedily as possible.The nation simply has to learn to manage money so that we can get to the point where we fend for ourselves.This is so crucial to our national pride.At the moment it can be said in all honesty that we waste a lot, but there’s so little to be had when it comes to national priorities and, for that matter, natural or man-made disasters, that we have to appeal to the international community.That in turn increases, rather than reduces, our dependency on others.The German Embassy recently donated laptop computers and printers to our MPs.According to Speaker Theo-Ben Gurirab, they’re to be used in Parliament Chambers, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing.MPs should be listening, taking notes and contributing to debates and not surfing the Internet or sending e-mails while they’re doing so.It may contribute to ‘strengthened computer competencies’ as Gurirab hopes, but they’re bound to be distractions from the business of the day.Do we really need donations of notebooks and pens for MPs? Are things really that bad that they can’t provide their own? We must bear in mind too, that many of these same MPs had to attend workshops to learn how fill out their tax returns, and this too, reflects very badly on our Parliament and nation at large.One shudders to think about the level of knowledge, even in Cabinet, when it comes to matters of finance, and at the end of the day, everything is about that.The people who should know about money don’t, and those lesser-earning mortals who haven’t got the same access to knowledge of such matters, are continually in trouble because they cannot manage.Out there are all the magnets to attract consumers, from the latest in cellphone technology to DStv and flash 4x4s, and with credit, they all seem both attainable and desirable.But payback time has to come, and this is where everything starts to unravel and when the loan sharks start to circle.We all need to get back to budgeting basics, and at the end of the day, trying to save something as well! Take another example in the news recently, which could not fail to shock.A non-governmental organisation such as Nepru, an economic policy research unit, to boot, has found itself in financial difficulties.And this is not as much the issue as the fact that they’d reneged on PAYE and other obligations to the Receiver of Revenue.Coming from an institution that advises Government on economic maters, and with a board on which eminent persons such as the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Namibia, the Director General of the National Planning Commission, former Ministers and deputies are represented, we have to express concern.So it’s really an issue that is deeply troubling, even though we may try to trivialise or argue away the seriousness of it.The former President was always one to advise people to ‘tighten their belts’, and I would agree.Overall, we have to try to live more modestly and learn to manage our financial affairs far better.This encompasses a range of undertakings from a variety of people and institutions.Clamping down on corruption and mismanagement, from Government to parastatals to NGOs, would be a good start.Leaders exhibiting more modest lifestyles would set an example to the youth.There are many ways in which to start to tackle this problem, and it needs to be done soon, and in all sectors of society, or we will face a future of always being in someone else’s debt.WE see this manifest in everyday examples in the news and elsewhere.Whether it is Government itself that cannot pay its bills to local municipalities, or the CEO who is compelled to beg, steal or borrow because of his expensive cocaine habit, or an ordinary employee who doesn’t realise that what you buy on credit has to be paid back – we do have a big problem that we need to tackle as speedily as possible.The nation simply has to learn to manage money so that we can get to the point where we fend for ourselves.This is so crucial to our national pride.At the moment it can be said in all honesty that we waste a lot, but there’s so little to be had when it comes to national priorities and, for that matter, natural or man-made disasters, that we have to appeal to the international community.That in turn increases, rather than reduces, our dependency on others.The German Embassy recently donated laptop computers and printers to our MPs.According to Speaker Theo-Ben Gurirab, they’re to be used in Parliament Chambers, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing.MPs should be listening, taking notes and contributing to debates and not surfing the Internet or sending e-mails while they’re doing so.It may contribute to ‘strengthened computer competencies’ as Gurirab hopes, but they’re bound to be distractions from the business of the day.Do we really need donations of notebooks and pens for MPs? Are things really that bad that they can’t provide their own? We must bear in mind too, that many of these same MPs had to attend workshops to learn how fill out their tax returns, and this too, reflects very badly on our Parliament and nation at large.One shudders to think about the level of knowledge, even in Cabinet, when it comes to matters of finance, and at the end of the day, everything is about that.The people who should know about money don’t, and those lesser-earning mortals who haven’t got the same access to knowledge of such matters, are continually in trouble because they cannot manage.Out there are all the magnets to attract consumers, from the latest in cellphone technology to DStv and flash 4x4s, and with credit, they all seem both attainable and desirable.But payback time has to come, and this is where everything starts to unravel and when the loan sharks start to circle.We all need to get back to budgeting basics, and at the end of the day, trying to save something as well! Take another example in the news recently, which could not fail to shock.A non-governmental organisation such as Nepru, an economic policy research unit, to boot, has found itself in financial difficulties.And this is not as much the issue as the fact that they’d reneged on PAYE and other obligations to the Receiver of Revenue.Coming from an institution that advises Government on economic maters, and with a board on which eminent persons such as the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Namibia, the Director General of the National Planning Commission, former Ministers and deputies are represented, we have to express concern.So it’s really an issue that is deeply troubling, even though we may try to trivialise or argue away the seriousness of it.The former President was always one to advise people to ‘tighten their belts’, and I would agree.Overall, we have to try to live more modestly and learn to manage our financial affairs far better.This encompasses a range of undertakings from a variety of people and institutions.Clamping down on corruption and mismanagement, from Government to parastatals to NGOs, would be a good start.Leaders exhibiting more modest lifestyles would set an example to the youth.There are many ways in which to start to tackle this problem, and it needs to be done soon, and in all sectors of society, or we will face a future of always being in someone else’s debt.