Windhoek
The Minister of Economic Planning and Director General of the National Planning Commission, Tom Alweendo says graft impacts adversely on economy.
He was speaking at the National Anti-Corruption Conference that started in Windhoek on Monday and it will conclude on Wednesday.
He said corruption is one of the widely discussed topics, not only in Namibia but also the world over.
“Like any topical issue, there are various views as to how corruption affects development in general and economic development in particular,” he noted.
“Some researchers have concluded that there is no empirical evidence that corruption matters much for economic development and that corruption negatively affects not only the quantity and quality of investments in the economic but also the profitability of such investments,” he said. “They go as far as suggesting that in certain contexts, corruption can have a positive impact on economic development,” further stated Alweendo.
He said there is a large consensus on the negative impact of corruption on economic development.
The Namibian Government acknowledges that corruption can have a negative effect on national development. “It is for this reason we signed and ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNAC) in 2003. We went as far as enacting several laws aimed at creating and enabling environment for prevention of corruption and promotion of ethics and integrity. Initiatives to deal with corruption in general in Namibia also started much earlier before the signing and ratification of the UN convention the Prime Minister and the current President His Excellency Dr. Hage Geingob established a Technical Committee on the promotion of Ethics and Combating of Corruption,” reiterated the minister of economic planning. He said it is therefore of vital important that all Namibians should get involved to fight corruption.
“It is our best interest as a nation and it is important for our long-term socio-economic development. Let it start with me as as an individual as a family and as communities,” stated Alweendo.
“I need also to point out that Government’s effort to create an enabling environment for prevention of corruption is not because of our ratification of the UN convention against corruption but we are doing so because we have understood the negative consequences of corruption that has the ability to derail our development agenda,” he said.
The aim of the conference is to reflect and discuss pertinent issues relating to plans of activities that enhance a transparent and accountable system in all sectors of society.
The national conference on corruption is being attended by chief executive officers (CEOs) of SOEs, Chief Regional Officers (CROs), chairpersons of regional and local councils, regional governors and Permanent Secretaries (PSes) and heads of various institutions, including civil society organisations.