The announcement in yesterday’s budget speech that government will increase the old age pension grant by N$100 to N$1 100 per month will go a long way to addressing the plight of elderly citizens. Ten months ago senior citizens also had their monthly grants increased from N$600 to N$1 000 and the amount is set to increase again to N$1200 in the 2017/18 financial year.
The amount of N$1 100, which carries pensioners over the official poverty line, goes a long way to pay essential bills and afford bread and butter, particularly for those senior citizens who do not have any additional source of income due to income disparities created during the colonial era.
The rate at which the monthly grants increase for these vulnerable members of society will indeed go a long way in poverty alleviation and more so will effectively shield senior citizens from grinding poverty and vulnerability.
Our government, under the able leadership of President Hage Geingob who has time and again said that no Namibian should be left out, deserves a pat on the back.
Government, by allocating N$7.2 billion to the health ministry, is also giving a further indication it is committed – not only by words but by deeds – to the social, physical and mental wellbeing of its citizens.
Government leaders are also obviously aware that Namibia cannot achieve the knowledge-based economy status without significant investment and this understanding is attested by it investing around N$16,2 billion in the education sector in the coming year.
This will also assist students from poorer families to acquire the requisite academic training needed for a better future.
In fact, the Namibian government, unlike its peers – not only in Africa, but even in other developing countries – puts a premium on education and this seems to have become the norm. It shows that we have leaders with education at heart.
Another allocation worth mentioning is the N$500 million allocated for contingencies in the likelihood of unforeseen emergencies, of which N$278 million is to mitigate the recurrent drought that has affected the country for the umpteenth time, putting both livestock and human lives at stake.
Government has also set aside N$17,2 billion for infrastructure development, part of which will be used by the mass housing project to alleviate the critical shortage of houses among the working poor.
These infrastructure projects, among them roads construction and the expansion of the Port of Walvis Bay, will also go a long way to create much-needed jobs for our people.
This prudent budget indeed gives scope to maintain the provision of essential services and calls for greater resource prioritisation and quality spending that should be embraced by all government ministries, offices, agencies and SOEs.