Tax, More Tax And Bad News

PLEASE allow me a space in your newspaper to bring this issue of national concern to the politicians and the public as a whole.

I pay tax to the government every month, this tax is always deducted from my salary. Every now and then I go to the shop to buy something, a pen, a cool drink etc anything that I need from the shop I am being taxed VAT.But still, I have to pay for school fees for my children and hospital fees when I go to the hospital.The government is taking almost every penny from my hands by ways of tax even the money that I save in the bank – the interest I earn will be taxed in the future.The recently tabled budget in the National Assembly is almost worthless if not useless in terms of human development.It has very little to do with the people on the ground, very little in terms of supporting economic growth and employment creation.The National Planning Commission shows that 75% of the Namibian people are poor.The Namibian newspaper of July 4 2005, front cover, says the UN report released listed Namibia as a country in poverty.Most of the schools, hospitals and roads we see in this country are built with money from donor countries.What does this government do with our money that they deduct from our salaries and general sales tax? I am very angry with the people running the government.Our money is just paying fat salaries for ministers and their benefits and they forget about ordinary people who voted them in power.They are taking away everything for themselves and give nothing back to the people.What is the government doing really to improve our living standards? People are still very poor, 75% percent is very high.It is very embarrassing even to me as an individual that our country is among the poor ones.The water and electricity that has been increased from July 1 2005 – how will this poor people survive, or pay this? These people are going to suffer while the government is just looking on.What kind of government is this one? When the election comes they are running day and night looking for people to vote for them and this is cheating.It is an abuse of trust of the poor people.Do politicians see this or not? If they do, does it not bother them? They just sleep well and breathe well while people they are claiming to be serving cannot even buy bread? Namibia is a middle-income country and there is enough for everyone, but money is just in the hands of very few people, that is why crime is very high with thieves stealing in order to distribute the wealth more evenly.Our government is colonising us, it is not different from the colonial regime, this independence has brought us many bad things, Aids, economic hardship, poor education, water and electricity crises and many ugly things.Before independence the government would cut off you electricity if you didn’t pay but they would never cut off your water.I don’t think our Namibian government have ever thought of de-privatising water, these people don’t care about anyone else apart from themselves.Oh, they probably think America and Britain will always come and help once people start dying.I think the whole National Assembly should resign if they really mean business and if they are honest with the people of this country.Eva-Maria Benhard OndangwaEvery now and then I go to the shop to buy something, a pen, a cool drink etc anything that I need from the shop I am being taxed VAT.But still, I have to pay for school fees for my children and hospital fees when I go to the hospital.The government is taking almost every penny from my hands by ways of tax even the money that I save in the bank – the interest I earn will be taxed in the future.The recently tabled budget in the National Assembly is almost worthless if not useless in terms of human development.It has very little to do with the people on the ground, very little in terms of supporting economic growth and employment creation.The National Planning Commission shows that 75% of the Namibian people are poor.The Namibian newspaper of July 4 2005, front cover, says the UN report released listed Namibia as a country in poverty.Most of the schools, hospitals and roads we see in this country are built with money from donor countries.What does this government do with our money that they deduct from our salaries and general sales tax? I am very angry with the people running the government.Our money is just paying fat salaries for ministers and their benefits and they forget about ordinary people who voted them in power.They are taking away everything for themselves and give nothing back to the people.What is the government doing really to improve our living standards? People are still very poor, 75% percent is very high.It is very embarrassing even to me as an individual that our country is among the poor ones.The water and electricity that has been increased from July 1 2005 – how will this poor people survive, or pay this? These people are going to suffer while the government is just looking on.What kind of government is this one? When the election comes they are running day and night looking for people to vote for them and this is cheating.It is an abuse of trust of the poor people.Do politicians see this or not? If they do, does it not bother them? They just sleep well and breathe well while people they are claiming to be serving cannot even buy bread? Namibia is a middle-income country and there is enough for everyone, but money is just in the hands of very few people, that is why crime is very high with thieves stealing in order to distribute the wealth more evenly.Our government is colonising us, it is not different from the colonial regime, this independence has brought us many bad things, Aids, economic hardship, poor education, water and electricity crises and many ugly things.Before independence the government would cut off you electricity if you didn’t pay but they would never cut off your water.I don’t think our Namibian government have ever thought of de-privatising water, these people don’t care about anyone else apart from themselves.Oh, they probably think America and Britain will always come and help once people start dying.I think the whole National Assembly should resign if they really mean business and if they are honest with the people of this country.Eva-Maria Benhard Ondangwa