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Home / Iipumbu urges Namibians to supplement government efforts
Iipumbu urges Namibians to supplement government efforts
2017-08-17Staff Report 2 Matheus Hamutenya Keetmanshoop-Deputy Minister of Economic Planning, Lucia Iipumbu, has urged Namibians not to sit at home waiting for government hand-outs, but to make things happen for themselves. In a speech read on her behalf during a handover ceremony of business facilities at Koes village on Tuesday, Iipumbu said Namibians do not make the necessary efforts to empower themselves economically despite available opportunities. They instead opt to sit at home doing nothing and wait for free meals from government, a situation she said must change. According to Iipumbu, although government has made significant efforts to look after its people, especially with social grants that play a pivotal role in alleviating poverty, it cannot do it alone and thus citizens must do their part to uplift their own lives. Hence, Namibians should make efforts to complement government by doing something for themselves to earn an income, she said, adding that some family members have even become enemies of progress by robbing elderly people of their pension and spending it on alcohol, leaving the elderly with nothing and in poverty. “This means that our people have forgotten the culture of self-reliance and hard work, and they would rather wait for government hand-outs instead of working to earn their own money,” she said. She urged those who would benefit from the business facilities to make good use of them and make a better living, as the ball was now in their hands to use the facilities profitably. Keetmanshoop Rural constituency councillor, Elias Kharuxab, was delighted with the facilities handed to the community, and he thanked those behind the Namibian-German Special Initiative Programme for spending millions on the SME centre, campsite accommodation and a stadium at Aroab village. He also thanked the village councils of both Koes and Aroab for availing land to make the projects a reality, and he pleaded with the community members to safeguard the facilities and further develop the villages. 2017-08-17Staff Report 2
