… moots integrity commission
… wants prudent resource management
… pins hope on agriculture, human capital
Swapo vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has signalled the establishment of an internal anti-corruption arm to deal with corrupt leaders.
Her dream of the type of Swapo and Namibia she wants is contained in a manifesto she presented while canvassing for support during the ruling party’s
internal campaign late last year.
She ran her campaign on the integrity ticket.
A glance at the intraparty campaign pamphlet provides a bird’s eye view of the type of Namibia and Swapo that Nandi-Ndaitwah and her cohort yearn for.
“Corruption is a disease that undermines the moral fabric of society, and it should be rejected and dealt with decisively when it occurs,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
Corruption, she continues, is against the basic tenets upon which the ruling party was founded: solidary, freedom and justice.
“Any Swapo leader who makes himself or herself guilty of corruption should also face internal procedures for the integrity of the party and to reassure the people of Namibia, who have entrusted the party with the responsibility to manage the country’s resources for the benefit of all its people,” the international relations’ minister firmly holds. During the behind-closed-doors regional campaigns, the broader public, including the media, was in the dark as to what the Swapo candidates were promising.
Now, New Era has seen Nandi-Ndaitwah’s promises, which cascade down to national governance should she become the country’s next head of state.
Nandi-Ndaitwah saw off competition from Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta to retain the Swapo vice presidency.
Buttressing their anti-graft gospel, one of Nandi-Ndaitwah’s trusted lieutenants, diplomat Kaire Mbuende, said nipping corruption in the bud cannot be overemphasised.
For him, there is no novelty in despising corruption.
“It is a basic moral standard. We despise corruption as a party. But who takes action against corrupt people? At the national level, we have, as a mechanism, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
“At the party level, we have the question of integrity. So far, we are guided by national law. But the moral high ground is important for us, as party leaders,” Mbuende postulated.
These remarks come at a time when several Swapo business people and two former Cabinet ministers are behind bars, awaiting trial in Namibia’s biggest known public corruption scandal – Fishrot.
The ruling party is also said to have profited handsomely from the Fishrot
scheme, where the country’s fisheries were stolen at an industrial scale, benefitting only a select politically connected few.
“There is a general perception being created because of a certain number of individuals who are corrupt or accused of corruption that the party is corrupt. And the party must have a clear stand on that; that we stand on a platform of high moral ground,” the diplomat-cum-politician advanced.
Resources
Her vision for Namibia and the ruling party appear to be symbiotic, premised on pillars of integrity, hard work and maximum returns from the country’s opulent natural resources.
It is Nandi-Ndaitwah’s view that resources are either a blessing or a curse, depending only on how they are managed.
“We should prevent the plundering of our resources, such as timber and fisheries by foreigners. We also have to ensure that value addition to our natural resources, including minerals, has to be increased to create the necessary jobs and take our people out of poverty,” the presidential hopeful said.
Multinationals can not continue shipping out the country’s resources – unprocessed – to the detriment of Namibians, she added.
“We should not allow ourselves to be bullied by multinationals. Namibia’s natural resources should provide maximum benefits to the people of Namibia… Namibia cannot allow herself to be a rich country with poor people,” she alluded.
The seasoned diplomat seemingly veered away from the rhetoric by some quarters that certain resources, such as oil, do not legally belong to Namibians, but to investors.
“We have to negotiate better terms with foreign investors in sectors such as energy, oil and gas, learning from best practices around the world,” she said.
Agriculture
To date, the country’s 11 green schemes have little to show for the N$500 million pumped into the farms by taxpayers.
But Nandi-Ndaitwah says agriculture remains the bedrock for development. “Increased investment in agriculture will go a long way in creating jobs and generating wealth for the majority of our people, as the majority depend on agriculture,” she added.
About 70% of Namibians depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their income and livelihood, including subsistence farmers.
Despite the massive potential the sector holds, experts opine there has been no adequate investment in agriculture, and Namibia is not self-sufficient in food security.
The country imports about 70% of its
food from neighbouring South Africa.
“Our agriculture finance programmes need to be improved and expanded to reach as many farmers as possible. More innovative ways of supporting the agricultural sector need to be developed. This should include targeted incentives.”
Reclaiming
Affectionately known as ‘NNN’ in Swapo circles, Nandi-Ndaitwah is the former liberation movement’s flag-bearer and presidential candidate in next year’s highly-anticipated national elections.
She enters a male-dominated arena.
National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) leader Utjiua Muinjangue remains the only female to have ever contested for the highest office in the land.
Swapo, a party attempting to reclaim its glory days, NNN believes, must be strengthened continuously to continue playing a leading role in national politics.
It is an open secret that Swapo’s popularity among the electorate has waned in recent years.
This is evidenced by the loss of key municipalities, including Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund.
The ruling party also lost some regional councils, such as Hardap, //Karas and Kunene.
In the last National Assembly and presidential elections, Swapo lost its long-held two-thirds majority, while its leader Hage Geingob’s support from the electorate dropped sharply from 87% to 56%.
“Its [Swapo’s] membership needs to be expanded through recruitment drives, and its structures need to be [re]formed to allow maximum participation by the rank and file,” reads a section.
Swapo, she said, is bigger than individuals.
“All our rules must apply to all party members… if for one reason or the another we abandon our basic principles for one person, we must be assured that our party will lose trust from thousands of our members – and of course, the entire nation, that may lead to Swapo party falling sideways on the political road in Namibia,” was the gospel she sold to delegates.
Recovery
At the heart of NNN’s envisaged economic policies is upskilling the labour force, as “development ultimately depends on human development”.
“We have to understand the social and economic status of all our regions and develop specific-targeted programmes to ensure inclusive development,” she campaigned.
It pains the politician that there are as many unemployed graduates as there is a shortage of skills required for industrial development.
“There is, thus, a mismatch between skills development and the demands of the market,” she said. To mitigate this in the short-, medium and long-terms, accelerated skills development is required, the minister suggested, “given the discovery of new natural resources such as oil and gas”.
“The education, training sector and the market must coordinate to ensure appropriate skills are available at all times,” she added.
Implementation
Over the years, Namibian institutions have largely been credited for coming up with well-crafted policies, strategic plans or manifestos – at least on paper. Implementation of those policies remains a thorn in the flesh for the government and the ruling party.
So far, only 22% of the resolutions taken at the party’s 2017 ordinary congress have been fully implemented.
A report that was tabled for scrutiny at the just-ended seventh ordinary congress also shows the implementation of 18% of the resolutions has not started, while 60% has been described as “ongoing”.
Responding, Mbuende said, Nandi-Ndaitwah acknowledges not being good at an array of aspects, but implementation is one of her fortes.
This, he said, can be traced back to all ministries where she has been – environment and tourism, gender equality and now at international relations.
“She has a track record of being an implementer. It was a great pleasure travelling around with her to the different regions, how the different regions would acknowledge a specific contribution of a specific project in that region that was discussed with the community – like establishing information centres, introducing community radios – and the list goes on. She has had the privilege of working in many ministries. She is known to follow up on promises and initiatives,” Mbuende enthused.
– emumbuu@nepc.com.na