While the media is expected to keep the government on its toes, President Hage Geingob is concerned that it cannot be true that there is nothing the State is doing right as depicted by continuous negative headlines in the press.

The President registered his consternation yesterday during the opening of the Cabinet for 2023.

“Is it the same Namibia that I am living in? Then it is bad, you will think. It [reports] as if nothing positive is taking place in Namibia. Nothing positive? And I say am I in the same country?”

“When I came back after 27 years of exile, I travelled this country by road, most of the time with him [pointing at Vice President Nangolo Mbumba]. I travelled in villages.

“But the Namibia I see today and the Namibia of those days cannot be the same, rightly so. But for citizens to try to paint a negative picture about their own country, trying to look for worse case examples… is it patriotism that is lacking or what is it?”

Using an example of the American patriotism, he said, “if you go to America, Americans will never take you to the Harlem ghettos.  [But] everywhere in the word, there are ghettos.”

According to the Head of State, the press ought to remain balanced and fair in its reportage as opposed to primarily preoccupying itself with painting a bleak picture of government’s performance.

“It doesn’t mean you must just accept everything. No. Criticise, point out the weaknesses, but is everything wrong?” Geingob questioned.

“I have observed with increasing concern negative media headlines, sometimes without us being given a right of reply.  These same headlines are then amplified through social media and radio talk shows, thereby influencing public opinion. If you read daily print media, you would be depressed.  It is as if nothing positive is taking place. This is absolutely not true,” a clearly disappointed Geingob lamented.  

Geingob partly blamed his ministers for allowing a false narrative about the government to continue unabated.

“Failure to do so will allow those whose aim it is to downplay our achievements and progress to take the initiative and propagate their false narratives. If one is not effective in articulating and communicating one’s narrative, then others will communicate a different narrative on one’s behalf,” the former premier said.

To buttress the government’s open-door policy to be more accountable and transparent, he pointed to the recently promulgated Access to Information Act.

“One of our great achievements is Namibia’s positioning as having the freest press in Africa. We have set ourselves several activities under Harambee Prosperity Plan II, aimed at ensuring that accountability and transparency are enhanced in Namibia, amongst these being the promulgation of the Access to Information law, which is now a reality,” Geingob said.   

“Accountability and Transparency are the two cornerstones that underpin our governance architecture.”  

Priorities

At the heart of the government’s agenda are agriculture, housing and education.

“We must, therefore, critically review our processes and expedite the implementation of key projects in these sectors.  The line ministers responsible for these sectors would be expected to present detailed plans with timelines as to how they envisage speedy delivery of relevant projects with catalytic economic impacts,” he said.

Geingob then moved to address the elephant in the room – the country’s embarrassing grade 11 and 12 examination results.

After reading out the titles of the certificates (Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary (NSSCO) level and Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS), Geingob was baffled by the complexities lying in the names. 

“Why is it just not matric or standard eight [a simple name]...You complicated things…even the name is complicated (sic),” Geingob said.

Education minister Anna Nghipondoka, whose blood many are baying for, was in attendance.

After the results were announced, Geingob met Nghipondoka and her team, who presented a report, detailing the performance of the 2022 cohort that sat for the NSSCO and the NSSCAS levels. 

Geingob also held a meeting with the higher education, minister Itah Kandjii-Murangi, who suggested a conference to discuss matters concerning the state of education in Namibia. 

“I wish to inform you that I intend to call a broader consultative meeting of various stakeholders in the education sector, including Cabinet ministers, governors, executive directors, regional directors of education, the youth and youth organisations, experts in education, members from academia and international experts – to mention a few. This meeting will discuss the state of our education and deliberate on ways to improve performance across the board within the sector,” he announced, without attaching a date to the said indaba.

The President also took issue with the fact that learners at some schools are taught under deplorable conditions, including “under trees” – something that was foreign when they arrived from exile.

He was, however, quick to point out that the continued reliance on government by public schools – even with minor repairs or cleaning, cannot continue.

Resign

The President then addressed his team, saying Cabinet is a collective organ, where the majority’s decision reigns supreme.

He also hastened to say Cabinet ministers are not in those positions to advance their own interests or those of their kith and kin.

“It is not about advancing your own personal agenda and, therefore, as I have stated before, if you disagree with a collective decision taken and agreed upon by Cabinet, you are free to resign as per the Cabinet handbook,” he said as ministers looked on.

He said the government can no longer continue being praised for brilliant policies that never come to fruition.

“It has been said that we are good at planning and developing impressive plans – but when it comes to implementation, things don’t move. This year, we want an accelerated pace of implementation,” he said, before turning to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.

“Comrade Prime Minister, I equally charge you to regularly follow up with the ministers and through the secretary to Cabinet, with the executive directors to check on progress and report any inactivity or lack of progress directly to me so that we call people to account and formulate whatever measures may be necessary to implement our economic revival and other policies,” the President said as the head of government nodded.

- emumbuu@nepc.com.na