WINDHOEK – President Hage Geingob yesterday urged ministers to take full charge of their ministries instead of passing the buck and said he stands ready to mentor them if the need arises.
The President urged those unwilling to work hard, if any, to resign or he would help them to do so.
Geingob, speaking during his first cabinet session as President, said ministers have become experts at passing the buck instead of taking the lead.
“As President I avail myself to inspire, guide, motivate, instruct, mentor and spur you on to achieve your God-given potential. But I can only be successful in doing so if you make a concerted effort to meet me halfway,” he said.
Experts are of the opinion that there is no better person to mentor ministers on government affairs than Geingob himself, seeing that he played a key role in establishing Namibia’s governance system and therefore knows all its intricacies.
Geingob served as the country’s first prime minister between 1990 and 2002, before being reappointed in 2012.
He also served as minister of trade and industry between 2008 and 2012.
He said Cabinet has the right mix of age, experience, wisdom and energy to succeed in the quest for prosperity.
“If we are prepared to trust one another, confide in one another, mentor one another and support one another, then I am sure that in future, we will look upon this moment as a moment in which we began sketching the blueprint for prosperity,” the President said.
He said he wants ministers to take charge of their ministries and lead from the front. Geingob’s administration comprises 57 ministers and deputy ministers tasked to lead 27 ministries.
“For long there has been a culture of people not owning up to their responsibilities. This must be eliminated as soon as possible because it seems we have become experts at passing the buck,” said Geingob.
Geingob said there is a need to weed out the passing on of responsibilities and adopt a more progressive approach in which those who perform will be rewarded and those who do not perform will have to bear the consequences of non-performance.