'AR tested our peace and stability'
President Hage Geingob has warned Namibians to guard and protect the peace and stability the country enjoys, because it can easily be ruined.
Geingob made the candid remarks during a reception for ambassadors and high commissioners at State House last week.
“The peace we are talking about were tested by AR, so we engaged them in a mature way, peacefully. Don’t fool yourself, it takes time to build peace, but to destroy it does not take you time,” Geingob warned.
He said while there is political power, most Namibians still lack economic power.
“Yet they don’t want NEEEF,” he said, reminding those in attendance that Affirmative Action reports indicate that the number of previously disadvantaged people in management positions at local companies is down by seven percent.
He said political reconciliation alone is not enough, and that Namibians need economic ownership too. He said it’s not right to just say no to NEEEF, instead people should offer suggestions on how to improve it.
The New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework Bill has been the subject of debate over the last a few weeks, with many businessmen rejecting the bill which seeks to ensure previously disadvantaged shareholding in local companies.
The bill in its current form compels all white male Namibians owning an existing or future company to transfer at least 25% ownership to PDPs and that at least 50% of the management of these companies must be PDPs. This requirement includes sole traders.
White men would not be allowed to sell ownership to their white wives, who count among the PDPs.
PDPs may never sell any part of their businesses to white men or to a “foreign enterprise owned by a person that is not previously disadvantaged”.
Namibian Sun reported recently that numerous white businesspeople are seeking advice on options to either fight the NEEEF bill in court or to move their businesses to other countries.
GORDON JOSEPH
Geingob made the candid remarks during a reception for ambassadors and high commissioners at State House last week.
“The peace we are talking about were tested by AR, so we engaged them in a mature way, peacefully. Don’t fool yourself, it takes time to build peace, but to destroy it does not take you time,” Geingob warned.
He said while there is political power, most Namibians still lack economic power.
“Yet they don’t want NEEEF,” he said, reminding those in attendance that Affirmative Action reports indicate that the number of previously disadvantaged people in management positions at local companies is down by seven percent.
He said political reconciliation alone is not enough, and that Namibians need economic ownership too. He said it’s not right to just say no to NEEEF, instead people should offer suggestions on how to improve it.
The New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework Bill has been the subject of debate over the last a few weeks, with many businessmen rejecting the bill which seeks to ensure previously disadvantaged shareholding in local companies.
The bill in its current form compels all white male Namibians owning an existing or future company to transfer at least 25% ownership to PDPs and that at least 50% of the management of these companies must be PDPs. This requirement includes sole traders.
White men would not be allowed to sell ownership to their white wives, who count among the PDPs.
PDPs may never sell any part of their businesses to white men or to a “foreign enterprise owned by a person that is not previously disadvantaged”.
Namibian Sun reported recently that numerous white businesspeople are seeking advice on options to either fight the NEEEF bill in court or to move their businesses to other countries.
GORDON JOSEPH
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