Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Listening to president Hage Geingob\u2019s new year\u2019s message, the question remains: Will 2024 be another year of promises or one of delivery?<\/p>\nTo be fair, the verdict is pending.<\/p>\n
We will know more in a year from now.<\/p>\n
But what we can predict with some degree of certainty is that Geingob will then again not shy away from singing his own praises.<\/p>\n
Indeed, comrade president, and admittedly so, a lasting drought, a world market with unfavourable prices for Namibian primary commodities and the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have created unforeseen challenges beyond your control.<\/p>\n
But putting the blame only on external factors is a weak excuse for crisis management, which has left the marginalised at the margins.<\/p>\n
You confidently claim that Namibia will be better off when you leave office.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s contrast this with a fact check:<\/p>\n
Almost half of the population is fighting poverty, hoping to secure a decent daily life without fear of hunger.<\/p>\n
Children face malnutrition and stunted development. Some have starved to death. This is a national disgrace.<\/p>\n
High inflation rates have catapulted basic food commodity prices to exorbitant heights. Ordinary families battle to make ends meet. Promises of a better future gloss over the harsh realities most people are facing.<\/p>\n
Maybe, comrade president, you should just take N$200 and a shopping basket, visiting one of the grocery stores in town. Try with such limited means to purchase enough to prepare a decent meal for a five-person family \u2013 and forget about a bottle of wine.<\/p>\n
With a daily subsistence and travel allowance \u2013 notably without any expenses required \u2013 exceeding multiple times the average monthly income of ordinary Namibians, you would be up for a surprise.<\/p>\n
You claimed that N$3 billion were spent on drought relief between 2016 and 2019.<\/p>\n
In contrast, over N$10 billion are required per year only for interest rates servicing debt.<\/p>\n
Without explaining where the money should come from, you confidently express the hope to increase the monthly old-age pension to N$2 000, if not even N$3 000 before leaving office.<\/p>\n
You claimed the year made \u201cgiant steps to collective prosperity\u201d. You filled 10 minutes with a preposterously triumphant hymn.<\/p>\n
Stating that under your 10-year presidency the country will be in better shape means, in fact, that it has recovered to some extent from the shocks since 2015.<\/p>\n
You could legitimately claim some credit for this. But don\u2019t invent more.<\/p>\n
Namibians deserve better than an annual ritual of a self-appraisal out of touch with realities, bordering on a mixture of fantasy and wishful thinking.<\/p>\n
Statesmanship requires modesty and a sense of reality as regards the living conditions of ordinary people \u2013 including those who cannot afford a TV set and have no energy supply to watch your televised speech.<\/p>\n
The declared \u201cmarch towards shared prosperity\u201d will at best remain a long one.<\/p>\n
The stated commitment to hold hands should reach out to the poor, not the rich.<\/p>\n
So rather explain how the expected long-term economic boost thanks to the exploitation of the natural wealth by foreign companies would trickle down to ordinary people on the ground.<\/p>\n
The \u2018Year of Expectations\u2019 as \u201ca new beginning for the Namibian house\u201d should lay the sustainable foundation for flat buildings providing shelter.<\/p>\n
To allow all Namibians a decent, dignified life in security, it should not be a gated community for the prosperity of a minority, as a protected island in a sea of poverty and destitution.<\/p>\n
Claiming \u201cgiant steps\u201d having been taken under your leadership and guidance during 2023 borders on megalomania, seeking to construct a myth.<\/p>\n
As so often, seeing is believing.<\/p>\n
You are sharing the lionskin before hunting.<\/p>\n
If you deliver on your promises, the praise is well deserved. Otherwise, your speech remains just a populist blunder.<\/p>\n
Comrade president, please stop building castles in the air and get real.<\/p>\n
You have 15 months left to build a proper and reliable legacy, based on the realistic assessment of your period in office.<\/p>\n
Nobody will blame you for showing integrity by being realistically modest.<\/p>\n
You may have wanted more, but be satisfied with what you have and what you have not achieved.<\/p>\n
*Henning Melber joined Swapo in 1974. He was the director of the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit from 1992 to 2000.<\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Henning Melber Africa-Press – Namibia. Listening to president Hage Geingob\u2019s new year\u2019s message, the question remains: Will 2024 be another year of promises or one of delivery? To be fair, the verdict is pending. We will know more in a year from now. But what we can predict with some degree of certainty is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":61027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-61028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\n
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