By Josephat lnambao Sinvula
Mahatma Gandhi once remarked that”the World has enough for everyone’s needs,but not enough for everyone’s greed.” Indeed,it was like he was talking about Namibia as Her Excellecy President Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah prophetically once remarked at a campaign rally at Walvis Bay in 2024,”we are too few to be hungry.” Namibia has a population of just above 3 million people, a small one to be poor but we find ourselves entangled in the paradox of poverty amidst plenty.With the diamonds,gold , uranium,copper and a thriving fisheries industry,poverty is steadily growing-but only among the downtrodden majority of Black Namibians. On the other hand, a review of the Parliamentary Asset Register and 1 percent or more of the Black Elite in Namibia show that the wealth of Politicians and Black Elite and their cronies have grown exponentially.
Namibia has enough for everyone. It is not only the distribution of resources that is skewed and deliberately so but equally true is the Entitlement Mentality of 99.9% of Namibians,in particular the Black Elite, that has birthed the poverty crisis due to greed exacerbated by a lack of leadership to deal with that greed.
Take for example the case of the USA and China.While it took 200 years for the USA to become the number one economy in the world,it has taken China a mere 40 years to lift about 500 million people out of poverty, industrialized it’s economy and make China a global manufacturing hub of goods and services.Although considered a developing nation,China is now the second largest economy in the world.This was done at the back of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) which controlled cooperation with foreign owned entities helping with foreign direct investments and technology transfer of its economy.China ensured that the largest benefit for this State Capitalism was to the country and it’s people and not to private entities or persons as it has been the case in Namibia with 173 SOEs 35 years after independence.
In China,people are at the centre of every State decision and it is only wise and correct that we replicate their attitude and fortitude in combating poverty and other challenges we face in Namibia but there has not been the political will to tackle this scourge social evil as those in power and their cronies were busy enriching themselves at the expense of the majority Black Namibians who live in abject poverty.
Namibia is classified as a middle-income country in terms of per capita income but the majority of its citizens live under conditions of a least developed country.The White populatio comprising around 1.8 per cent of the total,plus the emerging Black Elite( 1 per cent) with their Entitlement Mentality, have a huge estimated annual per capita income whereas the majority Blacks have peanuts,including the Black population dependent upon subsistence agriculture and informal sector activities.
In July 1996,UNDP produced Namibia’s First National Human Development Report(NHDR) which provided a disagregated analysis of poverty and human development in Namibia.lt concluded that the country may be described as “ONE NAMIBIA,TWO NATIONS”of rich and poor.This conclusion is true today 35 years after independence.
This Opinion Piece draws on all the foregoing studies but in particular cites the example of the Zambezi Region where a Cabal of Namibians with Entitlement Mentality within the system have attempted to downplay a Mining Project discovery of minerals in the region to disadvantage the majority of Namibians so that they could eat alone and not share the resources equitably with fellow Namibians.
The point that needs to be made regarding the mineral discovery in the Zambezi Region during 2024 is that whereas the political leadership may have been committed,we discovered that the technical,senior and middle-level staff of the then Ministry of Mines and Energy including its political Czar seemed lethargic in addressing the matter and simply washed their hands off and did not assist the mining company in marketing the project to both local and foreign investors
On 13 August 2024, Zita Dias Diamond Resources owner Zita Dias and Zambezi regional governor Lawrence Sampofu launched a findings report on the 15 critical minerals discovered in the region.
Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu said investors should come on board to support the extensive drilling process to quantify 15 critical minerals discovered in the region.
Preliminary exploration done by Zita Dias Diamond Resources has found aluminum, silicone, phosphorus, sulfur, chloride, potassium, calcium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, copper and tantalum.
These critical minerals were found in the stretch from Kamenga to Nukwa, and all the way to Batubaja.
Sampofu made this call during the announcement of the critical mineral test results and launch of the findings report on Monday.According to Sampofu, the region, which has been predominantly known for its potential in agriculture and tourism, can now also dive into the mining industry with these discoveries.
“The collective support we seek in affording the company extensive resource definition will elevate Namibia as one of the top potential suppliers of these critical minerals that are significant in energy transition, artificial intelligence, and other enabling future technologies that enhance humanity’s advancement and progress. Therefore, I’m calling upon enterprising companies and investors to participate in the next stage of pursuing these discoveries for the betterment of the region and country at large,” he said.
No pun intended but the then Ministry of Mines and Energy was aloof and was mute about the discovery but if such a discovery had occurred in Northen Namibia it was going to be the talk of the nation.The Namibian cabal with Entitlement Mentality did the best to delay and/or downplay the discovery so that the majority of local Namibians do not benefit from the mineral resources of their motherland.
Despite the slight improvement in the conditions of the poor in situation in which half the population in Namibia is either poor or severely poor, in which about 1.8 per cent and 1 per cent Black Elite enjoy a “first -world ,country ” standard of living,a country that is the most inequitable nation in the world raises the question of what further measures are required to eliminate or at least drastically reduce poverty in Namibia.
ln the area of policy and with regard to poverty l am afraid as the Zambezi scenario shows that the establishment or the cabal dares to be dogmatic in the sense that as long as the Namibian cabal with Entitlement Mentality wants to eat alone and not share equitably with fellow Namibians coupled with the ambivalent political will by the top political leadership to put an immediate stop to such ruthless greed, one dares not be optimistic. The situation in Namibia,however,requires an educated look at what more needs to be done and the following recommendations suggest themselves.
>>> Redistribution : further redistribution of government transfers to bring the Gini coefficients to between 0.50 and 0.60 is feasible and will not adversely affect investor confidence provided it aims at the wealth and personal incomes of affluent Namibians and of domestic businesses and foreign investment.
>>>Accelerated Economic Growth:A higher growth rate of over 5 per cent would be required to alleviate poverty through targeted measures such as removing barriers of entry to new entrepreneurs and outside labour,increasing competition as well as encouraging small-scale and informal activities.
>>>Commitment:Whereas the political leadership at the highest level is committed to poverty reduction, technical,senior and middle-level staff seem lethargic in addressing the matter,as the Zambezi Region’s discovery of minerals show.The 1 per cent Black Elite has joined the 1.8 per cent Whites in the “First World”.
>>>Efficiency:Namibia has significantly managed to increase access to education as evidenced by 98.7 per cent enrolment rate achieved in light of children accessing education in 2015. However,the quality of education remains a challenge stemming from persistently high dropout,repetition,and survival rates in almost all school phases.ln the area of Health,regional disparities are wide.The levels of stunting and malnutrition reach almost 40 per cent in the North East.Given the high levels of government and donor resources devoted to human development,much of the improvement in poverty reduction will have to come from efficiency gains.
>>>Decentralization: This will go a long way to empower the people and enhance poverty reduction as long as Central Government puts in place fiscal measures not to decentralize malfiance, maladministration and corruption to Regional and Local Authorities.
>>>Formulation of a Long-Term Strategy:We currently have the traditional 5 year development plan,the annual impact of whose budget appears limited.We therefore require a long term (about 25 years) strategic framework and the mobilization of national consensus towards achieving mutually agreed poverty reduction goals.
>>>Allowing the Poor to Help Themselves: Both enhanced education and improved health are universally agreed to be major ingredients in empowering the poor to help themselves.So is access to credit to enable the poor to undertake small-scale enterprises and informal activities.
Other interventions to be pursued by the Government are: increased formal employment, support to communal agriculture,education and training,increased pension (safety net) and encouraging small businesses.
lt is ironical that poverty eradication did not feature in President Netumbo Nandi NDAITWAH’S bag of promises but she needs to walk the talk or lose credibility to reduce poverty in Namibia.No wonder she reneged or backtracked on one of her campaign promises to increase the old age pension grant to N$3000 which is a the correct measure and tangible way towards poverty alleviation.Finally,l would boldly suggest that the poor should be listened to more often ɓecause they are sitting on a powder keg which has the propensity to explode leading to instability and lack of peace and tranquility in Namibia as the rise of the Arab Springs showed.
*Josephat lnambao Sinvula is a holder of a Diploma in Community Development, Kitwe Urban Development College,Kitwe,Zambia, B.Sc in Urban Studies & Planning with concentration of studies in Public Policy and Social Change,Virginia Commonwealth University,Richmond,Virginia, USA,MPA (Public Administration),Atlanta University,Atlanta,Georgia,USA & PhD Candidate in Political Science,Atlanta University,Atlanta, Georgia, USA.He has served in various Senior Positions in the Namibian Public Service as Director of Human Resources, Finance & Administration,Oshana Regional Council and Under Secretary, Department of Civic Affairs,Ministry of Home Affairs.He is currently the Managing Director of JIS Management Consultancy CC based in Ongwediva, Northern Namibia.
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