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POLITICAL SCORECARD – Annual report for the Class of 2003

POLITICAL SCORECARD – Annual report for the Class of 2003

AS they enter the final year of office before the next elections at the end of 2004, we take a hard look at how the politicians in charge of the Government have fared.

Every citizen of Namibia should ponder whether the people chosen in 1999 are any closer to fulfilling their election promises. The Class of 2003 are graded on a scale of six to one:(6) – Exceptional. Serving the people seems to be your top priority.(5) – Very good. Your work is generally good, but you could do better.(4) – Average. Room for improvement.(3) – Poor. You are on probation for three months. If you don’t turn things around by then, prepare to exit.(2) – Very poor. The best you can hope for is a posting to a remote island, with no e-mail, phone or fax connection.(1) – You are hopeless. Your low score is nothing to smile about. Quit now, it’s not a moment too soon. Don’t look back.* Sam Nujoma: PresidentScore: 3Those who practise the “dismal science” of economics will nod smugly when they see the law of diminishing returns proved correct.The grizzled Nujoma epitomises just that.The longer he stays in power, the more blunders he makes.If he were to be judged on political wiliness or power management alone, Nujoma would get the best score.His charisma is still unparalleled in Namibian politics as he remains the most popular vote-winner.His Government continues to show concern about education and health by allocating them the biggest Budget share, though the returns have been negligible.But in the past few years some of the President’s outbursts have undermined the tenets of the Namibian Constitution which he has promised to protect.In a recent interview with the editor of the New African magazine, Nujoma called into question the legitimacy of the Constitution by criticising the 1982 Constitutional Principles.He said the “so-called willing seller, willing buyer’ clause” not only serves to perpetuate “the status quo of inequity in land distribution” but that it “was never in line with Swapo’s position in addressing the land question”.The clause is part of the entrenched chapter on universal human rights, which Swapo accepted as the basis of the country’s law.It was not the first time Nujoma had dismissed basic rights as nothing but a Western imposition.So much for idea of President as principal defender of the Constitution.Another indication that Nujoma is drifting from the values that many loved him for is his penchant for building self-serving monuments.The N$70 million replica of Zimbabwe’s Heroes’ Acre on the outskirts of Harare; N$500 million (or more) on State House and N$40 million on an airstrip at Okahao – and one wonders about the Tsumeb-Oshikango railway project.Will we still have enough money to go to the moon?Advice: Shake off your Mugabe Lite brand image, for goodness’ sake.After more than 40 years in charge it must be difficult to turn your back on the trappings of power.Do yourself and your country a favour: retire now, before the public knocks you off your pedestal.* Theo-Ben Gurirab: Prime MinisterScore: 2Enough of the courtesy calls, including those by your relatives.For too long his command of the Queen’s English mesmerised the public.The man is all talk, but little if any substance.What he was used to doing as Minister of Foreign Affairs – being the face of the country – cannot work in the Office of the Prime Minister.For more than 10 years he failed to stamp his mark on Namibia’s foreign policy, which, was directed mainly from State House.Gurirab could hardly deal with a chaotic Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, let alone the Office of the Prime Minister.More than a year ago Gurirab took over the well-oiled public service machine that Hage Geingob built with a disparaging side-swipe that it would no longer be business as usual.All this time later, we are yet to find out what improvements he brings to the table.Advice: Well, what are you waiting for? Perhaps another idle posting to an international organisation (not the UN) would be in order.* Hendrik Witbooi: Deputy Prime MinisterScore: 1Hendrik who? Yes, he’s still in Government (somewhere).Already weighed down by his clerical duties and tribal chieftaincy, Witbooi has remained the symbolic leader he always was in Swapo.Health problems, deaths in his family and general lethargy have compounded his political loneliness since he relinquished the vice presidency of Swapo last year.His namesake has done more for the country this past year, simply by being on Namibia dollar notes.Advice: The position is surplus to requirements.It’s time to go back to traditional leadership, priesthood and perhaps helping revive the secondary school you started.* Dr Libertina Amathila: Minister of Health and Social ServicesScore: 4She has done really well in a difficult Government post.The provision of anti-retrovirals must rank as one of her, and the Government’s best achievements in years.A big blot on her leadership is the collapse of State hospitals.Besides, someone needs to remind Amathila that she is not only responsible for State clinics and hospitals but for all health services.As it is, private hospitals can virtually allow a person to die if unable to raise N$5 000 deposit before treatment; while doctors, dentists and other health workers in private practice can overcharge with impunity.Advice: Find a way to keep our nurses in their chosen profession.You can improve the health sector by urging that all your Cabinet colleagues be treated in State hospital like all public patients.* Moses Amweelo: Minister of Works, Transport and CommunicationScore: 1He has come a long way since elevation from a high-ranking labour inspector in 2000 to the job of supervising public works.One moment he was reporting to Tuli Hiveluah as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour: then overnight he became Hiveluah’s boss at the Ministry of Works where the Permanent Secretary had previously been posted.His beginning was undoubtedly shaky, revealing a minister struggling to cope.A man in his position doesn’t need to have the public reading ability of Nelson Mandela to do the job, but it would help if he knew how many zeroes make up a million.Major projects undertaken by his ministry, such as the new State House, Tsumeb-Oshikango railway and Heroes’ Acre, make you wonder: between Amweelo and Nujoma, who is advising whom?Advice: Definitely not minister material.* Helmut Angula: Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural DevelopmentScore: 3Just like the sector he is supposed to steer, Helmut Angula’s star appears to be on the wane.Not only has he had to deal with a volatile meat export market, but his policies are actually accelerating the decline of the agricultural sector.Empowerment schemes have merely strengthened a black elite more interested in hobby farming than in business.Angula has gone to water over executive pay in parastatals, but is high and dry when it comes to providing H2O, one of the Government’s key responsibilities.Communities are expected to pay for all their water needs, with the State looking after major projects only.The Government has cut subsidies in many parts of the country.Yet, many households can barely scrape together money for food, let alone N$20 a month for water.Reports abound of rural communities in arrears long before the Ministry has fully handed over the running of their water affairs.Advice: Water privatisation seems a dicey business for a politician to get into.Wash your hands of it.* Nahas Angula: Minister of Higher Education, Training and Employment CreationScore: 4Ever the straight-talking one, Angula appears to have made peace with the split-up of the Education Ministry.Problems that dogged his higher education portfolio, mainly through the often cash-strapped University of Namibia, have dissipated somewhat.Unam, the Polytechnic of Namibia and other institutions are slowly establishing credibility.But the accusation that bursaries seem to be reserved for a select group persists.Hiring the World Bank to conduct an audit into our education system was a smart move, and we eagerly await improvement.Little has been achieved in job creation.The militaristic National Youth Service (NYS) remains a dubious exercise.But, if some spin-off in job creation could be demonstrated, scepticism would be lessened.Advice: You are destined for better things, if your political colleagues can bring themselves to accept a straightforward leader.* Jerry Ekandjo: Minister of Home AffairsScore: 1A visiting Martian could be forgiven for thinking he is the Minister of Police.The word ‘Dordabis’ must be engraved on his brain.That was where Apartheid’s security thugs tortured him and where he had 80 suspected Unita collaborators detained without trial for two years.How history repeats itself! Ekandjo has taken apartheid’s lessons to heart.Has he forgotten that Independence was supposed to overthrow the old order? No one could fault Ekandjo for talking tough on crime.Not that the criminals listen, but maybe, unlike us, they’re out of earshot.One gets the impression most staff want to do a good job, but their leader is not interested in morale.Ask immigration officers.Home Affairs is the worst-run ministry.Customer service is poor.Only the inmates of Namibia’s prisons could complain of worse service.Ekandjo has presided over Police whose actions ranging far outside the lawful limits have cost taxpayers a fortune in lawsuits over the years.Advice: It’s time Nujoma revoked his portfolio.Perhaps Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi could re-employ him at the high school in Gibeon.* Hidipo Hamutenya: Minister of Foreign AffairsScore: 4Unflappable as ever, Hamutenya has got on with ministerial tasks after burning his fingers on many failed projects, like Pidico.But those are bygone years.As the Minister of Trade and Industry until 2002, Hamutenya happily pointed to his most recent investment achievements: the multi-billion-dollar zinc mine, grape farms in the Karas region, and the Ramatex sweatshop in Windhoek.But a Foreign Affairs Minister is nothing if not a consummate diplomat.It must be said the Minister for Moving On (and Up) has added vigour and purpose to his predecessor’s gift for public relations.Talk of economic diplomacy is new in the Namibian context; perhaps the New Year will also bring us a foreign policy? Politically, he remains careful not to cross President Nujoma, at least not in public, lest he harm his presidential ambitions.Advice: If you can allay your comrades’ inexplicable fear of your intentions, the only way is up the ladder.And, hey, there are not that many rungs to climb!* Marco Hausiku: Minister of LabourScore: 3Hausiku must be a man of towering dignity.If a dignified silence is wanted when the country is beset by labour strife, Hausiku is your man.That Ramatex workers chose to take their grievances to a Deputy Minister (of Higher Education) speaks volumes for the limited respect he engenders.Admittedly, he stepped into the Labour room when it was on fire, so to speak.The Social Security Commission scandal would have put the blowtorch to any minister’s belly.So, with all that pressure from below, the last thing Hausiku needed was to have his discretion compromised from above.When President Nujoma made it clear NamPort executive Koot van der Merwe was a non-starter as the SSC’s next chief executive, we can only imagine Hausiku’s tight-lipped, so dignified silence.Advice: You really need to jack up and act like the Minister of Labour in a country with huge work-related troubles.* Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana: Attorney GeneralScore: 4When she was appointed to the post, one of Iivula-Ithana’s Cabinet colleagues is said to have remarked that she was “more general than an attorney”.Reviewing her time in office, we can say that – even with her Unam law degree – she is far more of a politician than a lawyer.Iivula-Ithana must be pleased with herself for pushing through her main project so far: the Legal Practitioners Act, and for securing the appointment of Martha Ekandjo-Imalwa as Prosecutor General, viewed largely as a political move.At least the AG is trying to instill some sense of professionalism in an office previously given over to defending the ridiculous mistakes issuing from other Government departments.Advice: Just ensure that whatever you do is for the lasting good of Namibia rather than to please your political masters and to advance your personal ambitions.* Abraham Iyambo: Minister of Fisheries and Marine ResourcesScore: 5The stench of fishy donations from companies towards his wedding has abated, but that scandal will not be easily forgotten.It has left a black mark on his career.The way he has revolutionised the fishing industry by forcing penniless blacks to get shares in established white and foreign-owned companies is questionable, but the administration of Namibia’s fishing industry is nothing less than world-class.Namibianisation was done clandestinely, with little transparency about how people were selected.Joint ventures? Many were shotgun marriages.But Iyambo shouldn’t be deflected from pursuing a policy that is basically worthwhile – and this Minister, to his credit, is not easily deflected.Advice: You have a way of coming up with fresh ideas.We’ll watch with keen interest.* Nicky Iyambo: Minister of Mines and EnergyScore: 3It’s hard to see how his tenure has improved the sectors for which he is responsible.Iyambo was brought in to replace Jesaya Nyamu, who was at war with De Beers.While backpedalling from decisions that landed his predecessor in trouble, Iyambo has now put himself under the thumb of the diamond cartel – a position so perilous that fans of old American cartoons will want to look away to avoid seeing what happens next.We are keen to ask this Minister for Forgotten Promises: whatever happened to the empowerment scheme we heard so much about when he was fresh in the job?Advice: Minister, where are you? Our best mineral detectors cannot locate you.Perhaps your feet are not on the ground, but passing overhead: are you, perish the thought, on auto-pilot? We rather suspect some of the business people have taken over the controls.* Joel Kaapanda: Minister of Regional, Local Government and HousingScore: 4Ah, the newcomer.Plucked barely a year ago from the diplomatic circuit of New Delhi to take charge of the portfolio, Kaapanda is still treading warily while his deputy, Gerhardt Totemeyer, handles the main issues.Kaapanda is nominally in charge of the decentralisation programme.His dealings with collapsing municipalities leave a lot to be desired: his management style is tainted by a lack of openness.Advice: You can be excused for taking time to learn the ropes of Government.Not for too long: it’s time to stop learning the ropes and start pulling the strings.* Albert Kawana: Minister of JusticeScore: 4Kawana is a veteran in this Ministry, having risen from permanent secretary through deputy minister to the top of the greasy pole.If the word we hear from Swapo and Government circles is right – that Kawana relishes being Nujoma’s yes man, we should be worried.We wouldn’t want a judiciary that is biased towards a political party because that would not augur well for national stability.The justice system, to put it mildly, needs major improvement, though laws recognising the complexity of balancing traditional justice and Western-style legislation are finally in the works.Advice: Proverbially, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but at least that assumes the machinery is moving forward: such movement will only come about if you focus on strengthening the laws along with the legal and judicial framework at the same time.* Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila: Minister of FinanceScore: 4The woman some call “the intern” was thrown in at the deep end when she was appointed Finance Minister in May.Having barely settled in her seat, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was forced to push her Cabinet colleagues to slash their budgets.For the first time the Ministry of Finance had to contract its projected incomeAdvice: With financial accounts, two watchwords must reign supreme: timeliness and compliance.Don’t treat us to the sad spectacle of late budgets, repeating the farce of 2002 when the second five-year national development report appeared two full years after it was due.Make sure your word is other ministers command.* Philemon Malima: Minister of Environment and TourismScore: 3Tourism has been getting back on track after lengthy disruption from Mishake Muyongo’s secessionists and the spillover of the Angolan civil war into Namibia.That testing time for Malima revealed a minister concentrating on wooing tourists, often at the expense of his other principal charge.While we await a law regulating the invasion of pristine areas, mining companies are rampaging through the fragile Skeleton Coast with impunity.Big businesses, such as Ramatex, appear to be a law unto themselves, as Malima and his ministry are conspicuous by their absence whenever environmental impact assessments are debated.Promises of laws protecting our environment ring more hollow with each passing year.Advice: Playing Mr Nice Guy won’t help much, especially where the interests of environmentalists and big business conflict.* Nangolo Mbumba: Minister of Information and BroadcastingScore: 4Many people must be itching to know what led to his unceremonious demotion via a fax sent to the office of a Governor who belongs to an opposition party.As Finance Minister, Mbumba talked tough, especially about reducing the budget deficit, but words seldom translated into actions.Mbumba wins marks for transparency.Even when handling hot potatoes.Advice: Nujoma picked well when he chose you for this post.Charisma and decorum are key to the job description.Your openness should prove a powerful example to be copied by your classmates in ’04.* John Mutorwa: Minister of Basic Education, Sport and CultureScore: 3Frankly, we have seen little improvement in the education system for all Mutorwa’s eight years as the nation’s headmaster.It’s becoming ludicrous to blame all our schooling woes on apartheid.Independent assessments of the system point to poor returns on the taxpayer’s investment, despite swallowing the biggest slice of the Budget pie.Schoolchildren are passing through school while still barely literate.Mutorwa boasts of high enrolments, but seems dazzled by quantity.Advice: When public schools are good enough for Cabinet members to send their children to them, tell us how successful they are – not before.You have failed to master the curriculum in eight years.Is it time you considered higher education? Lower education? Re-education?* Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah: Minister of Women Affairs and Child WelfareScore: 4Why the Department of Women Affairs was ever upgraded to a ministry remains a mystery.Certainly, the cost of administering this portfolio has risen, and an already bloated civil service has suffered too.Nandi-Ndaitwah has fought well for her constituency’s advancement, especially in the protection of women and children.Monuments to her diligence include the maintenance law, Combating of Domestic Violence Act, and even the orphan tax was well intentioned.But laws and policies are not enough.Advice: Scepticism about the need to upgrade the department remains You could do the same work at department level, but if your hard work requires a higher platform to gain the ear of your stuck-in-the-mud male colleagues, we remain open to persuasion.* Erkki Nghimtina: Minister of DefenceScore: 4Notwithstanding our ill-advised involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo and this Minister’s earlier anti-media stance, Defence has been a really professional force.If the Minister and military commanders can discipline the occasional wayward elements who go around violating people’s human rights (Don’t ring us, we’ll de-earring you), we can all be proud of the Namibian Defence Force.We hope the excesses which followed the Caprivi secession bid are behind us, and that Namibia never sinks itself into another Angolan quagmire.Advice: Even armies need smart people these days, not mere bravery.A man of your intelligence would be well advised to compare notes with Mbumba on the virtues of transparency.Your ministry naturally attracts flak.Keep your head down, stay the course.* Immanuel Ngatjizeko: Director General: National Planning CommissionScore: 4Since becoming head of the Government’s planning division towards mid-2003, Ngatjizeko has rarely been in the public spotlight.The National Planning Commission has become synonymous with its former head, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.So it has been virtually rudderless.Advice: You have earned a little more time, but this year let us see what you have up your sleeve.* Jesaya Nyamu: Minister of Trade and IndustryScore: 3He has stepped neatly into the Hidipo Hamutenya’s shoes and taken care not to offend sensibilities all around.Nyamu, like Hamutenya and Nujoma, has defended the Malaysian garment company, Ramatex, against accusations of exploitation and poor working conditions.After leaving the Ministry of Mines and Energy amid a clash with De Beers and one of its most important customers, he has gone to ground.Advice: If last year is any guide, you will nominate Hamutenya for president at this May’s congress.While you have your party prestige to consider, don’t be distracted from your duty to provide the best possible service to the state.* Hifikepunye Pohamba: Minister of Lands, Resettlement and RehabilitationScore: 4Pohamba should spend the holidays reading a modern fairy story.Once upon a time there was a country called Z whose President wanted to give his people land but for years he did nothing … and nothing … and nothing.One day, when the President was very old, young urban warriors could wait no longer and marched onto the land, whereupon the President claimed a personal victory.In the neighbouring land of N, Pohamba is supposed to be restoring the land to its indigenous owners.But, by failing to deal with the matter urgently, Pohamba risks repeating Z’s mistake, where the fairytale ended up as a horror story.Slow movement now leaves the fields open to angry extremists.But maybe this is a facile analysis: who knows, Pohamba may really be living on Animal Farm?Advice: A further Orwellian thought: Do we really want you for our Napoleon? First, it would be useful to see your ministry come up with a list of farms to be expropriated, then worry which State House you’d like to live in.* Ngarikutuke Tjiriange: Minister Without PortfolioScore: 1They seek him here, they seek him there, but Tjiriange eludes us all.No doubt he writes ‘Government servant’ on his tax return, but what service has he done? As Swapo Secretary General, Tjiriange at least has a specified role to perform.As a minister without a job description, he is reduced to a glorified sinecure.Advice: As you don’t have any official powers, we ask you to step aside and let us advise the President who appointed you: this man is a liability to the taxpayer.Make his Swapo role cost-accountable to the party he represents.** Political Scorecard (Part2) **THREE politicians were omitted from the “Annual report for the Class of 2003” published in The Namibian on Friday (9th January).It was not clear whether the markers were late or the candidates had to complete supplementary examinations.But we are at last able to release the results:* Immanuel Ngatjizeko: Director General: National Planning CommissionScore: 4Since becoming head of the Government’s planning division towards mid-2003, Ngatjizeko has rarely been in the public spotlight.The National Planning Commission (NPC) has become synonymous with its former head, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.So it has been virtually rudderless.Advice: You have earned a little more time, but this year let us see what you have up your sleeve.* Andimba Toivo ya Toivo: Minister of Prisons and Correctional ServicesScore: 3The prisoner turned jailer: it was a stroke of genius for President Sam Nujoma to give Ya Toivo this post.After all, he knows prisons inside out!So it is little short of amazing that the Robben Island veteran has failed to distinguish himself in this post.The year before last, a parliamentary report condemned conditions in Namibian jails as unacceptable.At least Ya Toivo retains his famous dignity, in not suggesting that things have improved on his watch.The prisoner rehabilitation programme is good in principle but vague in practice.Advice: You should leave any changes to your successor.Don’t be downcast by this grade – you have graduated in the school of life.Quit politics and put your feet up, you’ve earned it.* Peter Tshirumbu-Tsheehama: Director General: Namibian Central Intelligence ServiceScore: 1Central we can accept.Intelligence? Service? Give us a break.It’s hard to remember how many times the ‘Men in Black’ have not been caught napping.Even those whose trade involves secrecy must be open with the people at some point.What is our spy outfit’s budget – N$46 million this year alone – spent on? Cooking oil? Retraining farmworkers as spies? We have a right to know.According to the Auditor General, the NCIS exceeded its approved budget by N$8 million in 2000-01.Who guards the guardians? Parliament.Anyway, it’s a nice theory.Advice: Welcome to the election year.The tailing of political opponents is only to be expected.Like a new challenge? What about spying on more of your comrades: you’ve already got some useful target practice with Hage Geingob.Or don’t you think that job would require a professional touch?The Class of 2003 are graded on a scale of six to one: (6) – Exceptional. Serving the people seems to be your top priority. (5) – Very good. Your work is generally good, but you could do better. (4) – Average. Room for improvement. (3) – Poor. You are on probation for three months. If you don’t turn things around by then, prepare to exit. (2) – Very poor. The best you can hope for is a posting to a remote island, with no e-mail, phone or fax connection. (1) – You are hopeless. Your low score is nothing to smile about. Quit now, it’s not a moment too soon. Don’t look back.* Sam Nujoma: President Score: 3 Those who practise the “dismal science” of economics will nod smugly when they see the law of diminishing returns proved correct. The grizzled Nujoma epitomises just that. The longer he stays in power, the more blunders he makes. If he were to be judged on political wiliness or power management alone, Nujoma would get the best score. His charisma is still unparalleled in Namibian politics as he remains the most popular vote-winner. His Government continues to show concern about education and health by allocating them the biggest Budget share, though the returns have been negligible. But in the past few years some of the President’s outbursts have undermined the tenets of the Namibian Constitution which he has promised to protect. In a recent interview with the editor of the New African magazine, Nujoma called into question the legitimacy of the Constitution by criticising the 1982 Constitutional Principles. He said the “so-called willing seller, willing buyer’ clause” not only serves to perpetuate “the status quo of inequity in land distribution” but that it “was never in line with Swapo’s position in addressing the land question”. The clause is part of the entrenched chapter on universal human rights, which Swapo accepted as the basis of the country’s law. It was not the first time Nujoma had dismissed basic rights as nothing but a Western imposition. So much for idea of President as principal defender of the Constitution. Another indication that Nujoma is drifting from the values that many loved him for is his penchant for building self-serving monuments. The N$70 million replica of Zimbabwe’s Heroes’ Acre on the outskirts of Harare; N$500 million (or more) on State House and N$40 million on an airstrip at Okahao – and one wonders about the Tsumeb-Oshikango railway project. Will we still have enough money to go to the moon? Advice: Shake off your Mugabe Lite brand image, for goodness’ sake. After more than 40 years in charge it must be difficult to turn your back on the trappings of power. Do yourself and your country a favour: retire now, before the public knocks you off your pedestal.* Theo-Ben Gurirab: Prime Minister Score: 2 Enough of the courtesy calls, including those by your relatives. For too long his command of the Queen’s English mesmerised the public. The man is all talk, but little if any substance.What he was used to doing as Minister of Foreign Affairs – being the face of the country – cannot work in the Office of the Prime Minister. For more than 10 years he failed to stamp his mark on Namibia’s foreign policy, which, was directed mainly from State House. Gurirab could hardly deal with a chaotic Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, let alone the Office of the Prime Minister. More than a year ago Gurirab took over the well-oiled public service machine that Hage Geingob built with a disparaging side-swipe that it would no longer be business as usual. All this time later, we are yet to find out what improvements he brings to the table. Advice: Well, what are you waiting for? Perhaps another idle posting to an international organisation (not the UN) would be in order.* Hendrik Witbooi: Deputy Prime Minister Score: 1 Hendrik who? Yes, he’s still in Government (somewhere). Already weighed down by his clerical duties and tribal chieftaincy, Witbooi has remained the symbolic leader he always was in Swapo. Health problems, deaths in his family and general lethargy have compounded his political loneliness since he relinquished the vice presidency of Swapo last year. His namesake has done more for the country this past year, simply by being on Namibia dollar notes. Advice: The position is surplus to requirements. It’s time to go back to traditional leadership, priesthood and perhaps helping revive the secondary school you started.* Dr Libertina Amathila: Minister of Health and Social Services Score: 4 She has done really well in a difficult Government post. The provision of anti-retrovirals must rank as one of her, and the Government’s best achievements in years. A big blot on her leadership is the collapse of State hospitals. Besides, someone needs to remind Amathila that she is not only responsible for State clinics and hospitals but for all health services. As it is, private hospitals can virtually allow a person to die if unable to raise N$5 000 deposit before treatment; while doctors, dentists and other health workers in private practice can overcharge with impunity. Advice: Find a way to keep our nurses in their chosen profession. You can improve the health sector by urging that all your Cabinet colleagues be treated in State hospital like all public patients.* Moses Amweelo: Minister of Works, Transport and Communication Score: 1 He has come a long way since elevation from a high-ranking labour inspector in 2000 to the job of supervising public works. One moment he was reporting to Tuli Hiveluah as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour: then overnight he became Hiveluah’s boss at the Ministry of Works where the Permanent Secretary had previously been posted. His beginning was undoubtedly shaky, revealing a minister struggling to cope. A man in his position doesn’t need to have the public reading ability of Nelson Mandela to do the job, but it would help if he knew how many zeroes make up a million. Major projects undertaken by his ministry, such as the new State House, Tsumeb-Oshikango railway and Heroes’ Acre, make you wonder: between Amweelo and Nujoma, who is advising whom? Advice: Definitely not minister material.* Helmut Angula: Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development Score: 3 Just like the sector he is supposed to steer, Helmut Angula’s star appears to be on the wane. Not only has he had to deal with a volatile meat export market, but his policies are actually accelerating the decline of the agricultural sector. Empowerment schemes have merely strengthened a black elite more interested in hobby farming than in business. Angula has gone to water over executive pay in parastatals, but is high and dry when it comes to providing H2O, one of the Government’s key responsibilities. Communities are expected to pay for all their water needs, with the State looking after major projects only. The Government has cut subsidies in many parts of the country. Yet, many households can barely scrape together money for food, let alone N$20 a month for water. Reports abound of rural communities in arrears long before the Ministry has fully handed over the running of their water affairs. Advice: Water privatisation seems a dicey business for a politician to get into. Wash your hands of it.* Nahas Angula: Minister of Higher Education, Training and Employment Creation Score: 4 Ever the straight-talking one, Angula appears to have made peace with the split-up of the Education Ministry. Problems that dogged his higher education portfolio, mainly through the often cash-strapped University of Namibia, have dissipated somewhat. Unam, the Polytechnic of Namibia and other institutions are slowly establishing credibility. But the accusation that bursaries seem to be reserved for a select group persists. Hiring the World Bank to conduct an audit into our education system was a smart move, and we eagerly await improvement. Little has been achieved in job creation. The militaristic National Youth Service (NYS) remains a dubious exercise. But, if some spin-off in job creation could be demonstrated, scepticism would be lessened. Advice: You are destined for better things, if your political colleagues can bring themselves to accept a straightforward leader.* Jerry Ekandjo: Minister of Home Affairs Score: 1 A visiting Martian could be forgiven for thinking he is the Minister of Police. The word ‘Dordabis’ must be engraved on his brain. That was where Apartheid’s security thugs tortured him and where he had 80 suspected Unita collaborators detained without trial for two years. How history repeats itself! Ekandjo has taken apartheid’s lessons to heart. Has he forgotten that Independence was supposed to overthrow the old order? No one could fault Ekandjo for talking tough on crime. Not that the criminals listen, but maybe, unlike us, they’re out of earshot. One gets the impression most staff want to do a good job, but their leader is not interested in morale. Ask immigration officers. Home Affairs is the worst-run ministry. Customer service is poor. Only the inmates of Namibia’s prisons could complain of worse service. Ekandjo has presided over Police whose actions ranging far outside the lawful limits have cost taxpayers a fortune in lawsuits over the years. Advice: It’s time Nujoma revoked his portfolio. Perhaps Deputy Prime Minister Hendrik Witbooi could re-employ him at the high school in Gibeon.* Hidipo Hamutenya: Minister of Foreign Affairs Score: 4 Unflappable as ever, Hamutenya has got on with ministerial tasks after burning his fingers on many failed projects, like Pidico. But those are bygone years. As the Minister of Trade and Industry until 2002, Hamutenya happily pointed to his most recent investment achievements: the multi-billion-dollar zinc mine, grape farms in the Karas region, and the Ramatex sweatshop in Windhoek. But a Foreign Affairs Minister is nothing if not a consummate diplomat. It must be said the Minister for Moving On (and Up) has added vigour and purpose to his predecessor’s gift for public relations. Talk of economic diplomacy is new in the Namibian context; perhaps the New Year will also bring us a foreign policy? Politically, he remains careful not to cross President Nujoma, at least not in public, lest he harm his presidential ambitions. Advice: If you can allay your comrades’ inexplicable fear of your intentions, the only way is up the ladder. And, hey, there are not that many rungs to climb! * Marco Hausiku: Minister of Labour Score: 3 Hausiku must be a man of towering dignity. If a dignified silence is wanted when the country is beset by labour strife, Hausiku is your man. That Ramatex workers chose to take their grievances to a Deputy Minister (of Higher Education) speaks volumes for the limited respect he engenders. Admittedly, he stepped into the Labour room when it was on fire, so to speak. The Social Security Commission scandal would have put the blowtorch to any minister’s belly. So, with all that pressure from below, the last thing Hausiku needed was to have his discretion compromised from above. When President Nujoma made it clear NamPort executive Koot van der Merwe was a non-starter as the SSC’s next chief executive, we can only imagine Hausiku’s tight-lipped, so dignified silence. Advice: You really need to jack up and act like the Minister of Labour in a country with huge work-related troubles.* Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana: Attorney General Score: 4 When she was appointed to the post, one of Iivula-Ithana’s Cabinet colleagues is said to have remarked that she was “more general than an attorney”. Reviewing her time in office, we can say that – even with her Unam law degree – she is far more of a politician than a lawyer. Iivula-Ithana must be pleased with herself for pushing through her main project so far: the Legal Practitioners Act, and for securing the appointment of Martha Ekandjo-Imalwa as Prosecutor General, viewed largely as a political move. At least the AG is trying to instill some sense of professionalism in an office previously given over to defending the ridiculous mistakes issuing from other Government departments. Advice: Just ensure that whatever you do is for the lasting good of Namibia rather than to please your political masters and to advance your personal ambitions.* Abraham Iyambo: Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Score: 5 The stench of fishy donations from companies towards his wedding has abated, but that scandal will not be easily forgotten. It has left a black mark on his career. The way he has revolutionised the fishing industry by forcing penniless blacks to get shares in established white and foreign-owned companies is questionable, but the administration of Namibia’s fishing industry is nothing less than world-class. Namibianisation was done clandestinely, with little transparency about how people were selected. Joint ventures? Many were shotgun marriages. But Iyambo shouldn’t be deflected from pursuing a policy that is basically worthwhile – and this Minister, to his credit, is not easily deflected. Advice: You have a way of coming up with fresh ideas. We’ll watch with keen interest.* Nicky Iyambo: Minister of Mines and Energy Score: 3 It’s hard to see how his tenure has improved the sectors for which he is responsible. Iyambo was brought in to replace Jesaya Nyamu, who was at war with De Beers. While backpedalling from decisions that landed his predecessor in trouble, Iyambo has now put himself under the thumb of the diamond cartel – a position so perilous that fans of old American cartoons will want to look away to avoid seeing what happens next. We are keen to ask this Minister for Forgotten Promises: whatever happened to the empowerment scheme we heard so much about when he was fresh in the job? Advice: Minister, where are you? Our best mineral detectors cannot locate you. Perhaps your feet are not on the ground, but passing overhead: are you, perish the thought, on auto-pilot? We rather suspect some of the business people have taken over the controls.* Joel Kaapanda: Minister of Regional, Local Government and Housing Score: 4 Ah, the newcomer. Plucked barely a year ago from the diplomatic circuit of New Delhi to take charge of the portfolio, Kaapanda is still treading warily while his deputy, Gerhardt Totemeyer, handles the main issues. Kaapanda is nominally in charge of the decentralisation programme. His dealings with collapsing municipalities leave a lot to be desired: his management style is tainted by a lack of openness. Advice: You can be excused for taking time to learn the ropes of Government. Not for too long: it’s time to stop learning the ropes and start pulling the strings.* Albert Kawana: Minister of Justice Score: 4 Kawana is a veteran in this Ministry, having risen from permanent secretary through deputy minister to the top of the greasy pole. If the word we hear from Swapo and Government circles is right – that Kawana relishes being Nujoma’s yes man, we should be worried. We wouldn’t want a judiciary that is biased towards a political party because that would not augur well for national stability. The justice system, to put it mildly, needs major improvement, though laws recognising the complexity of balancing traditional justice and Western-style legislation are finally in the works. Advice: Proverbially, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but at least that assumes the machinery is moving forward: such movement will only come about if you focus on strengthening the laws along with the legal and judicial framework at the same time.* Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila: Minister of Finance Score: 4 The woman some call “the intern” was thrown in at the deep end when she was appointed Finance Minister in May. Having barely settled in her seat, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila was forced to push her Cabinet colleagues to slash their budgets. For the first time the Ministry of Finance had to contract its projected income Advice: With financial accounts, two watchwords must reign supreme: timeliness and compliance. Don’t treat us to the sad spectacle of late budgets, repeating the farce of 2002 when the second five-year national development report appeared two full years after it was due. Make sure your word is other ministers command.* Philemon Malima: Minister of Environment and Tourism Score: 3 Tourism has been getting back on track after lengthy disruption from Mishake Muyongo’s secessionists and the spillover of the Angolan civil war into Namibia. That testing time for Malima revealed a minister concentrating on wooing tourists, often at the expense of his other principal charge. While we await a law regulating the invasion of pristine areas, mining companies are rampaging through the fragile Skeleton Coast with impunity. Big businesses, such as Ramatex, appear to be a law unto themselves, as Malima and his ministry are conspicuous by their absence whenever environmental impact assessments are debated. Promises of laws protecting our environment ring more hollow with each passing year. Advice: Playing Mr Nice Guy won’t help much, especially where the interests of environmentalists and big business conflict.* Nangolo Mbumba: Minister of Information and Broadcasting Score: 4 Many people must be itching to know what led to his unceremonious demotion via a fax sent to the office of a Governor who belongs to an opposition party. As Finance Minister, Mbumba talked tough, especially about reducing the budget deficit, but words seldom translated into actions. Mbumba wins marks for transparency. Even when handling hot potatoes. Advice: Nujoma picked well when he chose you for this post. Charisma and decorum are key to the job description. Your openness should prove a powerful example to be copied by your classmates in ’04.* John Mutorwa: Minister of Basic Education, Sport and Culture Score: 3 Frankly, we have seen little improvement in the education system for all Mutorwa’s eight years as the nation’s headmaster. It’s becoming ludicrous to blame all our schooling woes on apartheid. Independent assessments of the system point to poor returns on the taxpayer’s investment, despite swallowing the biggest slice of the Budget pie. Schoolchildren are passing through school while still barely literate. Mutorwa boasts of high enrolments, but seems dazzled by quantity. Advice: When public schools are good enough for Cabinet members to send their children to them, tell us how successful they are – not before. You have failed to master the curriculum in eight years. Is it time you considered higher education? Lower education? Re-education? * Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah: Minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare Score: 4 Why the Department of Women Affairs was ever upgraded to a ministry remains a mystery. Certainly, the cost of administering this portfolio has risen, and an already bloated civil service has suffered too. Nandi-Ndaitwah has fought well for her constituency’s advancement, especially in the protection of women and children. Monuments to her diligence include the maintenance law, Combating of Domestic Violence Act, and even the orphan tax was well intentioned. But laws and policies are not enough. Advice: Scepticism about the need to upgrade the department remains You could do the same work at department level, but if your hard work requires a higher platform to gain the ear of your stuck-in-the-mud male colleagues, we remain open to persuasion.* Erkki Nghimtina: Minister of Defence Score: 4 Notwithstanding our ill-advised involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo and this Minister’s earlier anti-media stance, Defence has been a really professional force. If the Minister and military commanders can discipline the occasional wayward elements who go around violating people’s human rights (Don’t ring us, we’ll de-earring you), we can all be proud of the Namibian Defence Force. We hope the excesses which followed the Caprivi secession bid are behind us, and that Namibia never sinks itself into another Angolan quagmire. Advice: Even armies need smart people these days, not mere bravery. A man of your intelligence would be well advised to compare notes with Mbumba on the virtues of transparency. Your ministry naturally attracts flak. Keep your head down, stay the course.* Immanuel Ngatjizeko: Director General: National Planning Commission Score: 4 Since becoming head of the Government’s planning division towards mid-2003, Ngatjizeko has rarely been in the public spotlight. The National Planning Commission has become synonymous with its former head, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. So it has been virtually rudderless. Advice: You have earned a little more time, but this year let us see what you have up your sleeve.* Jesaya Nyamu: Minister of Trade and Industry Score: 3 He has stepped neatly into the Hidipo Hamutenya’s shoes and taken care not to offend sensibilities all around. Nyamu, like Hamutenya and Nujoma, has defended the Malaysian garment company, Ramatex, against accusations of exploitation and poor working conditions. After leaving the Ministry of Mines and Energy amid a clash with De Beers and one of its most important customers, he has gone to ground. Advice: If last year is any guide, you will nominate Hamutenya for president at this May’s congress. While you have your party prestige to consider, don’t be distracted from your duty to provide the best possible service to the state.* Hifikepunye Pohamba: Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Score: 4 Pohamba should spend the holidays reading a modern fairy story. Once upon a time there was a country called Z whose President wanted to give his people land but for years he did nothing … and nothing … and nothing. One day, when the President was very old, young urban warriors could wait no longer and marched onto the land, whereupon the President claimed a personal victory. In the neighbouring land of N, Pohamba is supposed to be restoring the land to its indigenous owners. But, by failing to deal with the matter urgently, Pohamba risks repeating Z’s mistake, where the fairytale ended up as a horror story. Slow movement now leaves the fields open to angry extremists. But maybe this is a facile analysis: who knows, Pohamba may really be living on Animal Farm? Advice: A further Orwellian thought: Do we really want you for our Napoleon? First, it would be useful to see your ministry come up with a list of farms to be expropriated, then worry which State House you’d like to live in.* Ngarikutuke Tjiriange: Minister Without Portfolio Score: 1 They seek him here, they seek him there, but Tjiriange eludes us all. No doubt he writes ‘Government servant’ on his tax return, but what service has he done? As Swapo Secretary General, Tjiriange at least has a specified role to perform. As a minister without a job description, he is reduced to a glorified sinecure. Advice: As you don’t have any official powers, we ask you to step aside and let us advise the President who appointed you: this man is a liability to the taxpayer. Make his Swapo role cost-accountable to the party he represents.** Political Scorecard (Part2) **THREE politicians were omitted from the “Annual report for the Class of 2003” published in The Namibian on Friday (9th January).It was not clear whether the markers were late or the candidates had to complete supplementary examinations.But we are at last able to release the results:* Immanuel Ngatjizeko: Director General: National Planning CommissionScore: 4Since becoming head of the Government’s planning division towards mid-2003, Ngatjizeko has rarely been in the public spotlight.The National Planning Commission (NPC) has become synonymous with its former head, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.So it has been virtually rudderless.Advice: You have earned a little more time, but this year let us see what you have up your sleeve.* Andimba Toivo ya Toivo: Minister of Prisons and Correctional ServicesScore: 3The prisoner turned jailer: it was a stroke of genius for President Sam Nujoma to give Ya Toivo this post.After all, he knows prisons inside out!So it is little short of amazing that the Robben Island veteran has failed to distinguish himself in this post.The year before last, a parliamentary report condemned conditions in Namibian jails as unacceptable.At least Ya Toivo retains his famous dignity, in not suggesting that things have improved on his watch.The prisoner rehabilitation programme is good in principle but vague in practice.Advice: You should leave any changes to your successor.Don’t be downcast by this grade – you have graduated in the school of life.Quit politics and put your feet up, you’ve earned it.* Peter Tshirumbu-Tsheehama: Director General: Namibian Central Intelligence ServiceScore: 1Central we can accept.Intelligence? Service? Give us a break.It’s hard to remember how many times the ‘Men in Black’ have not been caught napping.Even those whose trade involves secrecy must be open with the people at some point.What is our spy outfit’s budget – N$46 million this year alone – spent on? Cooking oil? Retraining farmworkers as spies? We have a right to know.According to the Auditor General, the NCIS exceeded its approved budget by N$8 million in 2000-01.Who guards the guardians? Parliament.Anyway, it’s a nice theory.Advice: Welcome to the election year.The tailing of political opponents is only to be expected.Like a new challenge? What about spying on more of your comrades: you’ve already got some useful target practice with Hage Geingob.Or don’t you think that job would require a professional touch?

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