Africa-Press – Namibia. MEMBERS of the National Assembly continue to dig into the national budget, with opposition lawmakers dismissing it as a campaign tool for the ruling party, Swapo, ahead of national elections next year.
Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) leader Epaphras Mukwiilongo described it as a political budget.
The 2023/2024 budget is “clearly a political budget, designed to pump a few extra coins in neglected sectors in order to show the image of a progressive political party, ahead of critical elections next year”, he said.
“It is meant to canvass for votes for Swapo, while it is doing nothing in arresting the crisis in education, health, and the construction sectors.”
Mukwiilongo was also unimpressed by the N$16,8 billion allocated to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture.
“The minister once again has thrown money at the problem in education and then proceeded to bury his head in the sand, expecting magic to happen.
“If we cannot come up with revolutionary solutions to help arrest the deep-seated problems with the education of our children, we are risking adding more fuel to the already raging fire,” the NEFF leader said.
“This budget is nothing but just another budget that absolutely says nothing about how many teachers, who are unemployed, will be recruited this year in order to reduce poverty in our society.”
In his contribution, Edson Isaack of the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) was also disappointed with finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi’s proclamation that the budget is pro-poor.
“While the minister of finance proclaims that a huge chunk of the budget is allocated to the social sector with the proposed increase in social grants, nothing in this budget indicates that this increase will alleviate the socio-economic conditions of our people,” Isaack said.
He also accused the government of emulating other governments.
“The dichotomy is self-evident with an allocation of a mere 9,8% for development expenditure. Not to imagine the meagre N$100 increase that will have no effect on the disposable income of the elders. I know we copy from countries such as South Africa and America.”
The LPM lawmaker also took issue with Shiimi for parading a group of elders when tabling the appropriation bill last month. “But to bring elders as political objects to parliament for a mere N$100 increase is demeaning and an insult to these elders, their families and the nation at large,” said Isaack.
Meanwhile, Swapo member of parliament and minister of information and communication technology, Peya Mushelenga, was in support of the budget, especially the allocation made toward the country’s diplomatic efforts.
“I support the allocation of N$21,8 million to bilateral relations and N$653 million to Namibian diplomatic missions in the 2023/24 budget, which will enable us to strengthen ties with our friends around the globe,” he said.
Mushelenga was also in support of the allocation of N$4,1 billion for improving the quality of secondary education.
“Education is central to the functioning of any society and when there are problems, they should not be dumped at the doorsteps of individuals in the teaching fraternity.
“All of us have a responsibility towards finding solutions, assessing aspects related to school environments, learners’ attitude towards learning, teachers’ attitude towards teaching, curriculum design and teacher education, among others,” Mushelenga said.
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