Youthful Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian Inaaviposa Hengari said the cost of corruption in the public sector is paid for by poor people and unemployed young people who cannot get work because money intended for development is being used to purchase holiday homes and luxury cars. The 24-year-old Hengari made these remarks while delivering her maiden speech in the National Assembly on Monday.
She said the burden of shouldering corruption lies on the backs of the unemployed graduates who are qualified but cannot secure employment because they do not have connections or carry a certain surname, whereas those with certain connections can secure jobs without degrees.
“The fight against corruption is not just about transparency, good governance and accountability – it is about people. Young black men and women who are denied opportunities to further and better their lives because of that corruption,” pointed out Hengari. “It is young black women who are forced into compromising positions and make difficult life choices because development money is being used to develop a minister’s farm and not the development infrastructure it was intended for.”
Hengari stated when tender prices are inflated, it is the youth on the streets across the country who pay the price. “When fishermen are retrenched and left jobless because a fishing industry syndicate is selling Namibian resources to foreign companies, it is the children of those fishermen who are left wondering how they will pay for their education and livelihood,” she added.
Hengari added corruption is the enemy of progress and development. “We have been quick to identify Covid-19 as an “invisible enemy” and have come together as a country to take decisive measures to stop the spread of the virus. Corruption too is an invisible enemy that hides in the shadows of the boardrooms of our ministries and SOEs.” Hengari said she is disappointed with the government, which she accuses of lacking the political will to combat the scourge of corruption. “Why have we not shown the same seriousness and commitment to fight the invisible enemy, corruption, as we have with the virus? It is because of the failure to effectively fight this social ill that young people in this country continue to struggle to find employment after graduation or completion of their studies,” she said.
“When we talk about corruption and the ACC, we need to see it in that light: for all money that is lost to corruption, there is an opportunity cost. For each time that it happens, there is a group of Namibians whose lives could have been changed for the better and will remain in abject poverty.” – psiririka@nepc.com.na