GOBABIS – Gobabis Constituency councillor Augustinus Tebele has criticised the government for how it handles the national drought relief initiative.

 In an interview with Nampa recently, Tebele  said the government did not consult before they came up with ways to help farmers in times of natural disasters like drought.

 “Whenever we get a disaster of this calibre, it requires people not to stand up from Windhoek, run into the region and do what they call assessment or sampling a certain area, which does not talk to the real conditions on the ground,” he said.

 “They decide on the criteria without consultation with relevant affected communities. For me, such things do not bring solutions. That is oppression because our people do not have a choice but to accept whatever they are given,” he stated.

 Furthermore, Tebele indicated that most farmers in his constituency do not benefit from most of the subsidies given by government, because they are categorised as semi-commercial farmers and not communal farmers, as many of them are from the resettlement farms in the region.

 According to him, resettlement farmers are left out of this project because they are believed to be financially able, which he said is not the case.

 “The government only looks at transporting the livestock when farmers want to lease or take their livestock. The livestock marketing incentives prices of this livestock are even very low – apparently, this will be between N$300 and N$500 as a marketing incentive given to farmers,” he said.

 “How can you sell a lot of livestock in this regard if the prices are very low? It is like you are really throwing your economy in the dustbin,” he continued.

 Spokesperson of the agriculture ministry Jona Musheko responded, saying the ministry understands the claims by the councillor, but they are working with the budget allocated to them by the Office of the Prime Minister.

 Musheko said the ministry is aware of what the farmers are going through, and that what is given is not sufficient – but they are trying their best at
least to assist farmers where they can with the little budget allocated.  - Nampa