Windhoek
The Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna) secretary general Mahongora Kavihuha has proposed the setting up of a sovereign wealth fund that uses revenue from the country’s mineral resources.
Tucna is an umbrella body of over 15 affiliate unions, which together serve over 40 000 members throughout the country.
Speaking at a two-day media workshop attended by journalists from various media houses and representatives of various federation affiliates, in Windhoek, Kavihuha said there is a need for the creation of the fund with a special purpose vehicle to harness revenue from the country’s minerals.
This, he said, would help with intergenerational and long-term social and economic investment.
“Since the time of colonialism, Namibia’s natural resources and national wealth have benefited exclusively a small minority of the population, as well as foreign corporations that control these resources,” he said.
“This has hardly changed since independence and was a majority contributor to high levels of inequality that still characterise Namibia today.”
Kavihuha said the fund must directly benefit from resources through various taxes, levies and shareholdings, and should be administered in a transparent manner to ensure direct benefits for the vast majority of the population, through the provision of essential services and through measures that redress poverty, such as the introduction of a basic income grant (BIG).
“The sovereign wealth fund must be distinct from the government budget and must serve to ensure that the country’s wealth benefits impoverished and marginalised groups in society.”
As such, he said, the sovereign wealth fund must be a vehicle of redistribution in favour of the poor to lift them out of poverty and to ensure a decent standard of living for all, as envisaged by the constitution and Vision 2030.
“This fund must be supervised by an independent governing body consisting of the tripartite constituencies as well representatives of community organisations (tripartite plus),” he further said.
In the past three years countries such as Angola, Ghana and Nigeria have all set up funds. A string of other countries including Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique and Tanzania are planning to follow suit.