Wednesday’s communication by sports minister Agnes Tjongarero to her Botswana counterpart Tumiso Rakgare that Namibia will withdraw and terminate their Memorandum of Agreement with Botswana to jointly bid for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) came as no surprise; at least to me. 

In her communiqué, Tjongarero explained that the N$4.8 billion required to upgrade
the facilities was beyond their budget. Coupled with the persistent drought in most parts of the country, the Namibian government was forced to reprioritise its resources.  

“The budget provision for the lead consultant as proposed by the company chosen is above our budgeted threshold agreed originally as submitted by the BIDCO committee, and our request for additional funding was not approved. Subsequent to reports of severe drought, the Namibian government had to readjust, refocus and realign its financial priorities with the limited resources at our disposal to avoid a catastrophic economic situation.”

She further explained in her letter dated 19 April 2023 that “The Facilities Audit Report revealed that an amount equivalent of N$4.8 billion will be required for the upgrade of sport infrastructure. Regrettably, it is one of the key considerations which we are unable to fulfil in making sufficient budgetary provisions in the next three years. We are cognisant of the CAF inspection date for facilities, which is in June 2023, in line with bidding timelines.”

And while one deeply appreciates the honesty and bravery shown by the Namibian government in making such a difficult but necessary decision, I must confess that it was a decision that was bound to be made at one or another point. 

Despite the hype around the two countries’ planned joint bid for the 2027 Afcon finals, it is no secret that Namibia was and remains in no position to even flirt with the idea of hosting or co-hosting a tournament of Afcon’s magnitude. 

As per current speak, Namibia is grappling with two downgraded stadiums (Independence and Sam Nujoma), which both Fifa and Caf declared unfit to host international matches due to their hazardous state.

Although finance minister Iipumbu
Shiimi has on numerous occasions announced budgetary provisions worth of millions to fix and upgrade the Independence Stadium, nothing tangible has happened to date. 

The whole 2027 Afcon joint bid idea, also known as BONA 2027 in both countries, was simply started on the wrong footing. How can you even toy with the idea of wanting to jointly host Afcon four years from now, while your national teams are playing home games in South Africa and elsewhere? 

How can a country contemplate wanting to co-host Afcon four years from now, while it does not even have one Fifa/Caf-accredited stadium?  Those are the basic things that we were first supposed to fully take care of before trying to bite more than we can chew. There is no way on God’s green earth that we were going to host or co-host Afcon four years from now with our current sad state of affairs; no ways!

When it was first announced by the two governments, I myself and a few others expressed our honest scepticism about the whole idea and Namibia’s ability to fulfil such a mammoth task; especially in light of the crisis we face in terms of facilities. 

But our honest scepticism was welcomed with sheer rejection, and we were also called prophets of doom and unpatriotic. Here we are now, shamefully withdrawing at the eleventh hour from the bid, and leaving our neighbours high and dry. 

Generally speaking, there is nothing peculiar with Namibia wanting to host or co-host Afcon, but the timing and realities on the ground were just not perfect for the 2027 edition. Maybe once we have sorted out our stadiums’ issues and find ourselves in a much better fiscal position as a country, can we perhaps be in a position to take a shot at the 2029 Afcon edition. 

Until next time, sharp sharp!!