Rundu
Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare Rev. Zephania Kameeta says Namibia has no space and time for poverty and implored all Namibian citizens to formulate innovative ways to mitigate the scourge of poverty that affects so many people across the country.
He said Namibia’s leaders want to ensure there are no stories about residents compelled to drink dirty water, about citizens unable to irrigate their crops because their fields are seven kilometres from the Kavango River, or about people unable to send their children to school because they do not have the means. Such things should become history, he said.
“We want a Namibia where each and everybody will taste the wealth of this country. We want a shared vision. The vision of a leader must be born from the vision of the people, especially the poor,” Kameeta said.
The minister made the remarks during a consultative visit to the Kavango East Region in Rundu on Tuesday, where various local residents and institutions were expected to make suggestions on how best to eradicate poverty in the region. The meeting aimed to engage people at grassroots level.
The regional consultations were held under the over-arching theme: ‘Wealth redistribution to erase poverty with the key objective to build a national consensus and stimulate inclusive and innovative proposals from you’.
“We hope that at the end of this meeting you will be giving us a lot of interesting points, which we can take to the national conference. We are building a nation based on a shared vision, which is Vision 2030,” Kameeta further said.
The consultative engagement would also enable the ministry to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, including private entities, so that a comprehensive poverty eradication strategy is developed, the poverty eradication minister said.
“We want the cooperation of everybody in the fight against poverty. The Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare is also tasked with the establishment of a food bank. We don’t want people to go hungry … but some people are saying ‘Leave out the food bank at the moment, let’s concentrate on the bigger things’, but we also want to address that so that no one will go hungry, or eat at the rubbish dumps. I want to make it clear that the idea of the food bank won’t only be implemnted in Windhoek but countrywide,” Kameeta said.
Contributions from the side of the ministry centred on the need for social safety nets for vulnerable communities, including the provision of cash transfers (cash-for-work, food and solidarity banks, the Basic Income Grant (BIG), deprivation of basic services such as housing, electricity, water and sanitations, skills development and training, as well as employment-creation.
Participants were also afforded an opportunity to discuss regional, constituency and community-based perspectives within their thematic areas of concern with regard to poverty eradication in their localities.