Windhoek
Namibia faces an uncertain economic future, imports almost all food and clothes, forms risky alliances and neglects small enterprises, according to the leader of the official opposition, McHenry Venaani.
Presenting what he dubbed the ‘Real State of the Nation Address’ yesterday, the DTA president said the country has no food security, has misplaced priorities and a messy housing sector.
Venaani’s talk came a day after President Hage Geingob delivered his official State of the Nation address on Tuesday.
While many applauded him for this modern and creative way of exercising the democratic mandate of an official opposition, Venaani also received a tongue-lashing from those who felt he undermined and insulted President Geingob’s SONA.
Venaani, however, explained he was not overstepping his boundaries but exercising the right of reply to Geingob’s address, in his capacity as leader of the opposition in parliament and in line with international practices and trends.
“This event is significant for the simple reason that for the first time in the history of our country the official opposition has taken it upon itself to provide an overview and analysis of governance and service delivery in Namibia,” he said.
“Of course, our intention is not merely to provide a critique of the Geingob administration, but also to inform the Namibian public at large of the policy alternatives of the DTA,” Venaani said.
Since reclaiming the mantle as the official political opposition after the 2014 elections the DTA has set about to transform opposition politics, he noted.
Venaani said he prefers not to refer to President Geingob’s address as a SONA, because in his view, the Head of State entirely missed the brief.
“Instead of providing the National Assembly and Namibians in general with a report on the achievements and operations of government over the past year, the President used the platform to sell us another plan,” Venaani stated.
“We planned this event well in advance, but in hindsight and considering the President’s no-show yesterday (Tuesday), I believe we will present you with the real SONA, an account that considers the realities of our society,” he stated.
He said Namibia is one of the most unequal societies in the world and not enough has been done to redistribute wealth and eradicate poverty since the country won independence 26 years ago.
“Healthcare, education, the economy, housing, agriculture – namely the production of food and food security – water supply and electricity generation are all sectors under public administration that have over the past 12 to 18 months been in some sort of a state of crisis,” said the outspoken DTA leader.
“At the macro-level our economy is growing at a slower rate than it did last year. The Namibia Dollar is currently weaker against major international currencies than in 2015 and our national budget deficit and national debt are a cause for concern,” the leader of the opposition further noted.
He maintained that access to capital to start a business has remained elusive, as financing for businesses tends to be stubbornly expensive.
He added that selling of goods and services between legal entities within an enterprise presents an important tax issue, where large multinational corporations are able to exploit legislative loopholes to either pay lower import tax or avoid tax entirely.
“The informal economy often presents little, if any, opportunity for socio-economic advancement and in an effort to address this we propose a targeted State subsidy, as well as access to low-cost credit facilities, for informal traders and vendors,” he suggested.