ACHIEVING Vision 2030 ‘is a tall order’, Trade and Industry Minister Hage Geingob admitted at a public lecture in Windhoek on Thursday.
In terms of this blueprint document, Geingob told a packed lecture hall at Unam, Namibia is supposed to be an industrialised country by the year 2030 – with food and shelter at everyone’s disposal. However, he said, ‘even if you don’t achieve it, you have to benchmark yourself towards that goal’.During the second lecture in a series organised to commemorate the country’s 20th Independence anniversary, Geingob spoke about the structures of governance and the challenges of public policy implementation in Namibia.Following the recently ended court challenge of the November presidential and National Assembly elections by nine opposition parties, Geingob remarked: ‘We admit now that we have electoral democracy. For 20 years, we have been electing our leaders as imperfect as the system can be. It’s there; maybe not perfect but it’s there.’According to him, he fought single-handedly to bring across the message that civil servants cannot be expected to implement a political party manifesto. This, he said, is because ‘you (the Government) are responsible even for those who voted against you – even for the snakes.’ Although the ruling party’s manifesto is eventually translated into Government policy, it needs to be taken through Parliament first, Geingob said.Geingob reiterated the importance of service delivery on the part of civil servants and said that there is ‘a social contract’ between Government and Namibians ‘to deliver goods and services’. Moreover, he said ‘leadership must have vision and not create war and division [among its people]’. He added that in order to achieve good governance, it is important for Government to adopt the principles of inclusiveness, transparency and accountability. ‘We still have many, many challenges in Namibia. It is important to continue to hold hands; don’t despair. I know peace is boring, but please let’s maintain that boring peace. When you have peace, then we can answer our shortcomings.’During his lecture, Geingob also referred to the recent outburst by Evilastus Kaaronda, the outspoken secretary general of the NUNW, against so-called ‘German imperialists’, and the subsequent public debate, saying it is sad that such talk – marred with racist innuendo – was still taking place 20 years after Independence.Geingob also issued a stern warning to Namibians who are ‘on this bandwagon of anti-Chinese rhetoric’, to be careful. He said: ‘The world is a very small place. We are the child of international solidarity, including China. Be careful, it (China) is a big power that even bailed out the United States when it was in trouble. But it’s a friendly big power. They treat you like an equal. The Chinese didn’t come and grab [jobs]; our system gave them [jobs].’ According to him, the Ministry of Home Affairs was, interrogated about how so many Chinese managed to enter the county legally. The outcome of this was still being investigated, he said.’Another thing is the free market economy. We are a capitalist country. So let us work together. Leave it to us (the Government). We could handle white South Africa. You just gave us your mandate again because you trust us.’
