Africa-Press – Namibia. ON Thursday, the leader of the official opposition, McHenry Venaani, in a notice of questions to the minister of presidential affairs, Christine //Hoëbes, asked why president Hage Geingob did not use his authority to order the arrest of police chief inspector general Joseph Shikongo.
Venaani said Shikongo, who is the sole survivor of a road accident in which three people died in December 2022, has enjoyed unjustifiable immunity from the law.
He asked Geingob, who appointed Shikongo, why he is not ordering his arrest to uphold Article 10 of the Constitution.
He also asked the minister of home affairs, immigration, safety and security, Albert Kawana, why Shikongo was not tested for alcohol at the scene of the accident, and why he is not suspended pending the completion of the investigation.
In a statement, minister of mines and energy Tom Alweendo acknowledged that the companies exploiting Namibia’s natural resources are foreign-owned – a situation he said is indefensible.
However, the minister pointed out that the current situation is due to the fact that the oil and mining sectors require complex technologies and are capital-intensive.
“These are two things we, unfortunately, do not have. It is only those who have access to risk capital who have ventured into investing in these sectors,” he said.
Alweendo assured the public that local companies would benefit from the recent oil discoveries along Namibia’s shore.
He said internal oil companies would be required to source ancillary services, like engineering, logistics, accommodation and catering from local entrepreneurs.
In his response to the 2023/24 budget, Nico Smit of the Popular Democratic Movement said the budget is neither pro-sustainability nor pro-poor, and is definitely not pro-growth.
Smit criticised the government for theming the budget as pro-poor.
“But the song stays the same, year after year, and still, year after year, the poor people on the ground have to suffer, while they listen to the government’s drivel.
“But they remain poor and nothing the government does changes the painful fact of their pervasive poverty and the pain that comes from living in a ghetto, which we softly call an ‘informal settlement’ and eating from the garbage dump.”
Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Landless People’s Movement, Henny Seibeb, in a notice of questions asked minister of environment and tourism Pohamba Shifeta about the status of tourism in Namibia.
He asked the minister whether Namibia has a post-Covid-19 tourism strategy and plans to attract more tourists to the country.
He reminded the minister that countries like Rwanda and South Africa are busy implementing post-Covid-19 policies.
Seibeb also asked Shifeta about the status of the Namibia Tourism Board, including when the board would replace long-serving chief executive officer Digu Naobeb.
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