When the recently- tabled national budget is unpacked, it emerges that only 12% of the allocated funding directly goes into building the roads, schools, hospitals, water, electricity and rural infrastructure. These are items that Namibians need most, said Swapo parliamentarian Fenny Nanyeni.
She urged that Namibia should ensure its borrowing decisions directly support capital formation, not consumption, saying: “We cannot borrow our way out of development gaps, especially when the funds are used to finance the present recurrent costs rather than serving the future”.
“While the rise in development budget allocations is notable and I commend the minister for that, we must not ignore the widening gap between our consumption, what we owe, and what we build. For the third year running, our development vote is still lagging both operational expenses and debt-servicing,” said Nanyeni when commenting on the budget.
The youthful parliamentarian added that the budget ratio indicates debt and salaries take precedence over critical social and developmental infrastructures, and job-creation.
“This is not sustainable, as the development budget is our most important tool for inclusive socio-economic development and unlocking economic opportunities,” she said.
Nanyeni also cautioned the goals of young people cannot be fulfilled without a strong and consistent development budget allocation.
Also weighing in on the debate on the national budget, Republican Party parliamentarian Mathias Mbundu, was particularly concerned about how Namibia can confront the current unemployment crises without addressing the skills and knowledge gap existing in the education sector.
“Because most graduates end up jobless or over-skilled because our existing job market can’t absorb them, it brings back the question of how are our natural resources benefitting the unemployed, literate and illiterate citizens? Mbundu questioned.
He further argued that Namibia’s national purse is heavily-dependent on what the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other international bodies dictate to be good or bad for Namibians.
Describing the IMF’s influence as “overbearing”, Mbundu said ordinary hardworking and unemployed Namibians couldn’t be concerned with the World Economic Outlook (WEO) of each financial year, if it does not directly improve their living conditions.
“Our people are looking for practical solutions to everyday struggles such as a daily meal for their children, a decent income that can allow them to save up for the festive season with their loved ones or to expand their SME business to gain better business opportunities. All these hopes for a better life are pinned on the manner in which this Bill prioritises its spending on infrastructure and inflation counter-measures,” Mbundu added.
Continuing his budget debate, he commended the introduction of a cash voucher system to replace the food relief distribution programme led by the Prime Minister’s office.
“This is an indication that indeed the government does listen to the advice of this August House members since it was an appeal that my former colleague championed to our current speaker while she was heading the OPM. For that we give gratitude on behalf of the many Namibians who will benefit from the system,” said Mbundu.
However, Mbundu said he wished the national budget would’ve confronted what he called the elephant in the room, namely wealth distribution through Namibia’s natural resources and minerals, economically-aligned skills development and job-creation.
The newly-appointed finance minister, Ericah Shafudah, recently tabled a cautious and conservative yet pro-growth budget of N$106.3 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. The largest budgetary allocations went to education at N$24.8 billion, finance at N$14.6 billion and health at N$12.3 billion.
The budget was tabled under the theme “Beyond 35: For a Prosperous Future”, and represents an increase of 4.9% from the revised estimates from the last financial year. – ebrandt@nepc.com.na