WINDHOEK – President of Swanu Youth League Brian Ngutjinazo is concerned over the lack of critical drugs at state hospitals, which he said has forced patients, especially pensioners, to spend their meagre pension money on “expensive capitalist pharmacies”.
Ngutjinazo expressed concern in a media statement issued on Tuesday, putting the blame on the Swapo-led government saying that it has neglected the health sector.”
“Hospitals are running out of resources, pensioners are forced to spend their pension income on expensive capitalist pharmacies. The state medical sector is heavily neglected, as they are understaffed – we have a one nurse to 50 patients ratio,” Ngutjinazo said.
“We have patients dying in the queues and the medicine is depleted in state pharmacies,” he said.
He called on the Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Kalumbi Shangula to give a detailed report on how state resources are being spent.
Ngutjinazo also called on Shangula to explain why many Namibian graduate nurses are still unemployed.
“Swanu being the first political party and the only socialist party in Namibia by far, we are here to state our position on some of the careless spending of the Swapo-led government on state resources. We are here to condemn all these practices that the Swapo-led government seeks to promote and often ignore the suffering of the people,” he said.
Ngutjinazo said Swanu is a very inclusive party by far as its members do not discriminate against anyone in terms of creed, sexual orientation, religious practices, age, ethnicity nor race.
Furthermore, Ngutjinazo said the education sector in the country is also being compromised by the government.
“There are institutions that are being forced to retrench their academic staff as these institutions are underfunded; over 12 000 students in Namibia are at a risk of being dumped in the streets of unemployment; and in the streets there are frustrations that could lead the youth to partake in all kinds of criminal activities and social ills,” he said.
He called on ministries and the relevant public state enterprises to assist tertiary institutions, or in turn ask those in the line ministry or the state owned enterprises who are not doing their work to step down.