Katima Mulilo
The Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Zephania Kameeta, is perturbed by the unequal distribution of resources more than two decades after Namibia attained its independence.
Kameeta, who was in the Zambezi Region as part of his ongoing regional consultative meetings on poverty reduction, noted that those tasked with distributing resources should have compassion towards their fellow human beings and redouble their efforts to change the status quo.
“Projects don’t need to take long. They have to be implemented now. We must learn to put ourselves in the shoes of others. If you are tasked to distribute drought relief food, do so on time. There’s a big problem with distribution of resources that only a few people are benefiting. Twenty-five years after Independence, people are still complaining about water or drought relief food,” lamented the minister.
Kameeta, a retired clergyman, further moaned about a lack of compassion from those entrusted to empower others, noting that many of the social challenges are exacerbated by procrastination on the part of government officials.
“Redistribution needs people with compassion towards their fellow human beings. We want to address hunger right now. It breaks my heart to see children go hungry, children suffering malnutrition, destroying their future. We are making children become disabled,” he stated.
He called for a collective effort in fighting poverty, adding that his ministry was ready to play a central role in ensuring that strategies aimed at reducing poverty levels are implemented.
“The ministry takes cognisance of the multifaceted nature of poverty and the need for a multi-sectoral approach. The ministry will play a crucial role to ensure that the myriad of initiatives that relate to poverty reduction by different stakeholders are executed,” said Kameeta.
Kameeta further revealed that plans to establish a food bank as a pilot project in Windhoek are at an advanced stage.
“The ministry is also tasked with the responsibility to establish food banks across the country to abolish hunger and improve nutritional levels in Namibia. We are in the process to establish a food bank in Windhoek and use it as a pilot for the other regions,” Kameeta said.
“According to statistics the overall poverty rate was halved to 29 percent between 1994 and 2010. However in his maiden State of the Nation address, the president stated that even at 10 or 5 percent, poverty would still be high. Therefore, the journey towards a prosperous Namibia is still long and requires immense work,” Kameeta stated.
Zambezi Regional Governor Lawrence Sampofu appealed for the speedy implementation of the decentralisation programme, as he believes this would bring services closer to the people and thus improve their livelihood.
“We request government to speedily implement decentralisation to improve citizen’s access to services. This would be instrumental in making sure that government becomes more responsive to the needs of the people,” said Sampofu.
The consultative meeting was intended to solicit input from stakeholders with the key objective of building a national consensus on how to effectively implement the national wealth redistribution agenda in the country. Regional consultations are being held countrywide by Kameeta and his deputy.
The gathering brought together regional and local authority councillors, officials from constituency offices, Zambezi Regional Council, government ministries and agencies, members of constituency development committees and ordinary citizens.
Kameeta is accompanied on his regional trip by officials from the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, National Planning Commission and the United Nations Development Programme.