Lahja Nashuuta

Landless People’s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi has promised citizens a “social cash transfer” from envisaged oil revenues, if voted into power, and suggested government’s housing delivery strategy can improve with greater responsibility to local authorities.

He said the cash transfer programme is the only effective way to “pull children and families out of poverty”. 

Swartbooi then took time to address oil discoveries, which have been the talk of town for some time now. 

In an interview with New Era shortly after addressing a rally in Otjiwarongo over the weekend, Swartbooi promised to turn the tables for struggling Namibians if voted into power. 

This, he said, will be done by providing local authorities with requisite funding and political support to deliver land and houses expeditiously.

The lawyer-cum-politician argued that while the country has endorsed the decentralisation of state resources and governance to the regional and local authorities, most of the planning and implementation is still executed by the central government, which hampers progress. 

“Government needs to give power and resources to the regional and local authorities to run their own affairs. Local authorities need to be independent, and be able to get into finance deals with the private sector and banks. The role of central government should be more on monitoring and evaluation,” Swartbooi said.  

He further said money should be given to the local authorities to plan, execute and implement the housing schemes.

“For instance, if the central government has given N$50 million to Otjiwarongo to build housing units, the contribution of local authorities towards that implementation process must be executed without charges and a middleman. The funding must be transferred directly to the local authorities for them to do their own planning, implementation and create jobs within the local authority jurisdiction,” he proposed. 

This will be Swartbooi’s second shot at occupying the highest office in the land. 

He added there is a need to involve the private sector to speed up the servicing of land, but cautioned that it should be done at a decent and well-negotiated interest rate.

“We need a more innovative and collaborative partnership between the public and private sectors. However, local authorities should be the key driver of the process, and that the jobs are secured and fenced and maintained within that specific local authority’s jurisdiction,” he said. 

Oil

Using examples such as Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho and Madagascar, where social cash transfer programmes are reportedly helping break the poverty cycle and foster productivity, Swartbooi promised that if he is voted into power, he would make sure that every citizen receives a monetary share, especially from the oil revenue, every month.

Cementing his stance, the LPM leader maintained that unconditional cash transfers can make substantial positive impacts on the lives of people living in poverty, narrow income inequality, boosting education infrastructure, enhancing healthcare access, and even encouraging local business investment.

“There is no reason to be poor in this country, and for our vulnerable people to depend on food handouts, while the country is sitting on wealth. I strongly believe that by linking oil revenue to cash transfers, the government can deliver people out of poverty,” he said. Swartbooi maintained that sharing oil revenue among the citizens will also reduce the impact of corruption, would increase transparency and raise accountability in the use of oil revenues.

“There is a need to reduce corruption among public officials who have access to the oil revenue,” he assured the public.

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