Zebaldt Ngaruka
Sole Nudo parliamentarian Vetaruhe Kandorozu is a worried man.
His concern stems from revenue collection from Namibia’s multibillion-dollar fishing industry by the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA).
He posits that Namibia should be getting more.
Kandorozu made these remarks during his contribution to the 2026/27 national budget in Parliament recently.
Back in 2024, NamRA announced it was aggressively tackling tax evasion in the fishing industry, which contributes only 2-12% of tax revenue despite billions in export value. Following investigations, NamRA recovered N$20 million from 14 firms for tax fraud and is targeting quota sales, beneficial ownership and exports.
At the time, officials complained that the fishing industry’s tax contribution is extremely low, compared to its massive gross domestic product contribution and exports, which exceed N$13 billion annually.
The former Okakarara constituency councillor wanted to know how effective the collection system is at getting revenue from vessel owners fishing in the country’s water.
Kandorozu is also an active player in the fishing industry, as he holds fishing interests in or through Ombuajakandokojo and Otonaka JV.
“We have vessels that are selling our fish to Spain, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere. How much are we collecting from these businesspeople?” he asked.
The MP said there are right holders who were given rights to exploit fish from the sea on behalf of the government.
He wanted to know how much company tax and value added tax (VAT) the country is getting from the fishing sector.
“We have many factories: one is concerned with how they are contributing to the Treasury – be it income tax, VAT or Pay as You Earn,” said the lawmaker.
Kandorozu also wanted to know how the collection process is undertaken in the mining sector and questioned the auditing of the companies’ books.
“Clarifications are needed, as we have to make sure these mining companies have contributed according to their revenue or income and all related sources of income,” he said.
The parliamentarian added that the same can happen with agriculture, retailers and all other sectors that are organised and accessible to get money from them.
“We have lithium that we have set up a moratorium not to be exported. What have we done for that? “What are the plans for value addition to this lithium mineral?” asked the Nudo Member Parliarment.
He demanded answers as to when Namibia will start with the battery manufacturing plan and be the net exporter rather than the net importer of batteries.
“With the resources we have, we can’t say we are unable to fund the budget of N$ 100 billion. We still need to borrow money from local and international institutions,” he said.
As a country, Kandorozu said Namibia does not have an effective system to help NamRA to collect enough money for the expenses, which he views as a reason why the country does not have enough money to finance its projects and programmes.
“We have a very fragile manufacturing policy that is determined by the behaviour of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Something must be done between Namibia and SACU, because this relationship affects the smaller economy within the SACU pool,” he said.
Kandorozu added that Namibia recently lost the Peugeot manufacturing plant at Walvis Bay utilising the Export Processing Zone (EPZ).
The MP also questioned the government on what it is doing to harmonise the EPZ with SACU so that the country cannot lose on industrialisation benefits.
“I always give the classical example that we have the Swapo Party that has a very good relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese are selling different products in Chinatown and all Chinese shops in Namibia. Why can’t they manufacture those products in Namibia for the Namibian market, Southern African Development Community, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and all other markets?” he said.
On Namibia’s population size, he said: “I think the small population must not discourage us from starting to manufacture even toys in Namibia and any other product that we can start and grow. Let our budget provide incentives to promote industrialisation in our country to help our revenue stream to build our roads, offices and other infrastructure and take all the billions back to China to ask for a loan”.
Kandorozu added that China must assist Namibia with value addition and complete the production chain.
“We have the Ramatex building, idling there for nothing. We turned it into a cats’ breeding station, Boxing Bonanza Avenue, the Nudo conference hall and an auction place. Are we saying we don’t have any idea on how to use that facility productively?” he asked.
– zngaruka@gmail.com