The Ashanti proverb that says when a king has good counsellors his reign is peaceful aptly describes President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s present reign as the second Head of State.
However, since becoming president in 2005 and subsequently in 2010 this gentle giant has displayed nothing but the best leadership for his compatriots as well.
Pohamba like his predecessor, Founding President Dr Sam Nujoma, is among the great sons who selflessly fought in the struggle to free Namibia and its people from colonial bondage. And his struggle was our struggle and his triumph was our triumph.
His Majesty the King of Swaziland Mswati III honoured this humble, indulgent and dedicated son of the soil on Wednesday with the Order of the Lion that is the highest honour that can be bestowed by the Swazi king.
Pohamba was conferred this noble title because of the selfless role he’s played particularly in maintaining the good relations between the Republic of Namibia and the Kingdom of Swaziland and the international community in general.
Pohamba’s international stature rose meteorically in 2010 when he was elected as chair of SADC for one year, overseeing the 15-bloc regional organisation that had several political hotspots in Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Lesotho and the eastern DRC.
He took over at a time when SADC was pondering how best to integrate the economies of the political and economic grouping with a population of 300 million.
Pohamba chairs the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security that in 2013 played a crucial role in the watershed harmonised elections in Zimbabwe.
The President’s hallmark has always been his belief in collective leadership premised on consultations.
The present administration also initiated the mass housing scheme, whose main goal is to construct an unprecedented 185 000 housing units by 2030. One of the objectives of this scheme is to provide affordable houses to all Namibians.
Another national scheme of import is the N$14.5 billion Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (Tipeeg) through which 83 000 jobs were created over the last three years.
Because of his pro-investor policies we received massive investments such as the multi-billion dollar Husab uranium mine, creating much-needed jobs. We have also seen investments in the areas of gold mining and agriculture.
Namport recently underwent massive expansion at a cost of N$3.2 billion and in the present budget government allocated N$1.3 billion for Kudu gas, which will make Namibia self-reliant in power generation to the extent that we’ll even export half the volume that will be generated by Kudu.
It is also worth mentioning that yesterday the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) launched the National Housing Scheme to provide finance to Namibians who do not qualify for housing loans because they earn peanuts.
Also, Pohamba and his administration spent billions of dollars to rehabilitate old infrastructure such as ageing transmission lines, road and other infrastructure while decentralisation was accelerated resulting in significant investments in the regions.
That said, Pohamba deserves the Order of the Lion for his commitment not only to Namibia but to the wellbeing of humanity as well.
"