A subdued global economy with diminished demand for commodity prices and the worst drought in decades, it seems all gloomy and ominous for our economic outlook.
The fact our Dollar is pegged to a weakening South African Rand, that has taken a sustained pummelling against the dollar, combined with the fact that State coffers are far from the ideal levels have not helped matters and simply makes all citizens nervous.
The economic pendulum has since the beginning of 2016 swung in a direction never experienced in the bountiful times of yesteryear.
The multi-faceted challenges remain formidable, manifesting in a weaker local currency, low export commodity prices, mounting student and consumer debts and an agricultural sector under siege.
South Africa, our largest trading partner, could retrench 32 000 miners and the throb of the heartbeat of the global economic growth in China has grown even fainter.
Overall, there is little to cheer about and, if anything, Namibians would have to contend with a raft of price hikes on maize meal, meat, rice, sugar and even on water, because of the resultant chain reaction from the drought and a somewhat stagnant economy.
We are told some unpatriotic civil servants are in the habit of devising self-enrichment schemes in the form of meaningless trips, surreptitiously designed to claim unjustified S&T (subsistence and travel allowance), while others defer their obligatory duties to work over weekends so they can line their pockets with ‘overtime claims’.
Despite the government having set out clear benchmarks on service delivery, some officials seem to spend valuable time on meaningless, incoherent trips – all in the name of shamelessly pocketing S&T, at great cost to public coffers.
2016 should be a year like no other and those in positions of power should clamp down on wasteful spending on non-essential trips, ensuring government gets real value for its money. Otherwise, the recent pronouncement by President Hage Geingob that 2016 should be a year of delivery would be an exercise in futility, while the dreams of the highly expectant electorate would be deferred indefinitely.
Despite these trials and tribulations, there is a glimmer of hope that we can yet turn our fortunes around. Radical ailments need radical surgery. Period! We could still make substantial savings if government clamps down on non-essential trips and puts pragmatic control measures on overtime and S&T.
Of course, with smarter policies, political will and heightened public-private sector collaboration on many of these key social and economic challenges – and if we all pull in the same direction – we could still overcome these challenges and deliver much-needed prosperity across our country.