President wants speedier access to information

President Hage Geingob stressed the importance of promoting free access to information in Namibia during the first Cabinet Biannual Performance Review held on Friday.

The review aimed at examining the progress made with the implementation of the Harambee Prosperity Plan II (HPPII).

Geingob said under the Harambee Prosperity Plan II, they have committed to create a more accountable and transparent Governance Framework and he intends to ensure that they achieve this goal.

“We have set ourselves several activities under HPPII aimed at ensuring that Accountability and Transparency are enhanced in Namibia, amongst these being our commitment to promulgate Access to Information law.”

He said the importance of promoting free access to information cannot be understated as it is one of the defining characteristics of 21st century democratic nations such as Namibia.

“Thus, information should not only be made available, but it should be the correct information and should be availed in a timeous manner.”

He said they have witnessed the positive results of being more open and disseminating relevant information with the formation of the Covid-19 Communication Centre.

According to him the Centre has been a resounding success, as an integral communications mechanism and resource centre during our war against Covid-19.

“We should follow this example and ensure that we exercise greater openness when it comes to communicating the programs of government to the people.”

Geingob said the Centre should be continued to be used as a platform for educating citizens on their rights and responsibilities and raising awareness about government programmes and initiatives.

“Failure to do so will allow those whose aim is to downplay our achievements and progress to take the initiative and propagate their false narratives. If we as a government are not effective in articulating and communicating our narrative, then others will communicate a different narrative on our behalf.

Geingob said that agriculture, housing and education had been elevated in the HPPII under the Economic Advancement and Social Progression Pillars.

Innovation needed

“We must, therefore, critically review our bureaucratic processes and expedite implementation of the identified key projects in these sectors.”

He said that they should come up with clearly articulated plans of action for the Green Schemes including Neckartal Dam, expedited land delivery for housing and the desalination plant to address the water shortages in the Erongo regions.

“We are making good progress on the Southern Corridor Development Initiative, spurred on by global interest in developing green hydrogen and its derivatives in the area. However, at this critical stage, meticulous planning, stakeholder engagement and execution is key to fully unlocking this transformational opportunity, as envisioned.”

Geingob said at a time when they are faced with limited resources, it is imperative that they are able to boost innovation and productivity in the public sector to ensure there are no excuses to delivering public goods and services.

“No matter what, we must deliver on public goods, because we have been entrusted with the responsibility of fighting poverty, unemployment, as well as restoring our economic trajectory to yield more inclusive growth and shared prosperity.”

Geingob further urged all ministers to ensure that they implement to the letter projects under their portfolios, which are contained in the NDP5 and HPPII without delay.

“You must prioritise those projects and at the end of the day, come back and report 100% execution rate. It has been said that in Africa, we are good at planning and developing impressive policy documents, but when it comes to implementation things just don’t get done. This year we want an accelerated pace of implementation.”