Mbumba tells graduates Namibia will be ‘rich soon’

Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba has told graduates that they will live long and that they will inherit a country richer than it is now.Mbumba made the remarks last week during the University of Namibia (Unam) Rundu campus graduation ceremony where he told the close to 600 graduates to desist from social ills and focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, which is his predicted economic boom.Current leaders will be remembered for having paved the way for such boom, he told the graduates. “Those who are graduating today, please don’t waste your life in alcohol and unnecessary issues, you are going to live long and you are going to live in a country which is richer than now, believe me or not, you are going to remember us,” Mbumba said.Mbumba’s sentiments, to which he received a round of applause, come at a time when thousands of graduates remain unemployed due to the lack of job opportunities in the country.In general, youth unemployment was expected to hit a staggering 50.30% by the end of 2021.Apart from the lack of job opportunities, the economy is in a terrible state as the country has a high national debt after the government resorted to foreign borrowing to sustain its ballooning expenses.Namibia is considered one of the wealthiest countries in terms of its natural resources but it has high levels of poverty and Africa’s second highest inequality after South Africa.Although the per capita wealth of the average Namibian stands at N$14 802, as per the recent Africa Wealth Report, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) said the income of the top 1% of Namibians is equal to the combined income of the bottom 50%.Namibian Sun reported earlier this year that a shocking 1.6 million Namibians live in poverty, as defined by the World Bank.Mbumba’s promise of a richer Namibia was thus taken with a pinch of salt by some who attended the graduation.“If we are rich now and we have such a high unemployment crisis, what country am I living in because if it is Namibia he is referring to, Mbumba must be dreaming,” one person said.“Mbumba should have just congratulated the graduates and taken his seat. The country is awake and no amount of lies spewed can confuse us and to make us believe that this country will be richer. All our economic sectors have been auctioned and sold off to foreigners. Where are we going to get the richness from,” another attendee said.kenya@namibiansun.com

Mbumba tells graduates Namibia will be ‘rich soon’

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Namibian Sun 2022-05-29

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Mbumba tells graduates Namibia will be ‘rich soon’

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Namibian Sun 2022-05-29

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