Defence budget unjustifiable
An independent think tank has warned about the government's high military expenditure.
For Namibia's much-touted state of peace and stability the combined allocation of close to N$11 billion to the military and the safety and security ministry is of extreme concern and indefensible, a Namibian policy watchdog has said.
The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) moreover warned that the strategy to pump billions into the defence sector to create jobs for Namibian youth is misguided, and the focus should rather be on improving the overall business sector to promote job growth.
“Serious questions exist around the strategy with regard to its efficiency. In essence, the government's strategy of creating jobs directly, rather than creating an environment for the business sector to create jobs, is sub-optimal,” the IPPR stated in a detailed analysis of the 2017/18 national budget in the Democracy Report this month.
Another concern raised in the review is a multibillion-dollar military project “shrouded in secrecy called 'Research and Development'. In total, this project is worth N$6.7 billion.”
The IPPR warned that even in these widely acknowledged “current trying times” the secret military project was given the third largest development budget allocation in the current (2017/2018) year of N$263 million.
The combined budget of N$10.7 billion to defence and the safety and security ministry was described in the report as “extremely concerning from a prioritisation perspective, particularly due to the fact that Namibia is currently peaceful and stable”.
The total allocation to the two ministries was just a billion shy of the allocation to education, arts and culture, which was allocated N$11.98, the IPPR noted with concern.
“As a result of the large allocations to defence, Namibia has the 12th highest defence spending relative to GDP in the world,” the IPPR wrote.
The authors of the report argued that “while some defence spending is likely to be justifiable the magnitude of such that we see in the current budget is certainly not”.
The review noted that the bulk of the defence budget has been earmarked for personnel costs, which total N$4.7 billion of the close to N$5.7 billion budget allocation.
Moreover, when broken down by main division, the IPPR calculates that the Namibian army is the largest recipient of funds, receiving N$3.2 billion of the total N$5.7 billion allocation to the vote.
Another concern highlighted in the budget review is that while the bulk of the defence spending in Namibia is “undoubtedly predominantly a job-creation strategy, particularly for the creation of jobs for young Namibians” the defence ministry is also one of the largest recipients of development budget funds.
These funds are used for the construction and renovation of military bases around the country, but also for one of the largest projects listed in the development budget, namely the secretive, multibillion-dollar 'Research and Development' military project.
The IPPR concluded that the positive aspect of the current budget for defence is that spending was cut “fairly aggressively for the most part”, which means that defence spending to GDP ratio is forecast to improve from 4.8% of GDP in 2015 to under 3% of GDP by 2019.
JANA-MARI SMITH
The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) moreover warned that the strategy to pump billions into the defence sector to create jobs for Namibian youth is misguided, and the focus should rather be on improving the overall business sector to promote job growth.
“Serious questions exist around the strategy with regard to its efficiency. In essence, the government's strategy of creating jobs directly, rather than creating an environment for the business sector to create jobs, is sub-optimal,” the IPPR stated in a detailed analysis of the 2017/18 national budget in the Democracy Report this month.
Another concern raised in the review is a multibillion-dollar military project “shrouded in secrecy called 'Research and Development'. In total, this project is worth N$6.7 billion.”
The IPPR warned that even in these widely acknowledged “current trying times” the secret military project was given the third largest development budget allocation in the current (2017/2018) year of N$263 million.
The combined budget of N$10.7 billion to defence and the safety and security ministry was described in the report as “extremely concerning from a prioritisation perspective, particularly due to the fact that Namibia is currently peaceful and stable”.
The total allocation to the two ministries was just a billion shy of the allocation to education, arts and culture, which was allocated N$11.98, the IPPR noted with concern.
“As a result of the large allocations to defence, Namibia has the 12th highest defence spending relative to GDP in the world,” the IPPR wrote.
The authors of the report argued that “while some defence spending is likely to be justifiable the magnitude of such that we see in the current budget is certainly not”.
The review noted that the bulk of the defence budget has been earmarked for personnel costs, which total N$4.7 billion of the close to N$5.7 billion budget allocation.
Moreover, when broken down by main division, the IPPR calculates that the Namibian army is the largest recipient of funds, receiving N$3.2 billion of the total N$5.7 billion allocation to the vote.
Another concern highlighted in the budget review is that while the bulk of the defence spending in Namibia is “undoubtedly predominantly a job-creation strategy, particularly for the creation of jobs for young Namibians” the defence ministry is also one of the largest recipients of development budget funds.
These funds are used for the construction and renovation of military bases around the country, but also for one of the largest projects listed in the development budget, namely the secretive, multibillion-dollar 'Research and Development' military project.
The IPPR concluded that the positive aspect of the current budget for defence is that spending was cut “fairly aggressively for the most part”, which means that defence spending to GDP ratio is forecast to improve from 4.8% of GDP in 2015 to under 3% of GDP by 2019.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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