Govt fails to deliver on inequality - DTA
The government has failed dismally to address the structural imbalances of the Namibian economy and to ensure socio-economic advancement and prosperity for all Namibians since independence, Nico Smit a DTA Member of Parliament has said.
Smit's accusation was made in response to an article published last week in the Namibian Sun, which said that Namibia is now the third most unequal country in the world, in terms of income inequality.
He said Swapo's failure in this regard is primarily because of its approach to employment creation.
“Conventional wisdom holds that government's role in employment creation should be limited to creating and maintaining a legislative and policy environment that is conducive to new business establishments and attractive to foreign direct investment,” Smit further said.
According to Smit's observation, Swapo has stubbornly clung to the belief and practice that government should be directly involved in employment creation through the expansion of the public service and public infrastructure development.
“By using the public service purely as a tool for employment creation, they have increased the number of people engaged in unproductive activity,” Smit said, criticising government's approach to tackle unemployment.
He added that the increase in the size of the public service means that there are less resources to go around for each individual public servant. He argued that while public infrastructure development indeed benefits the economy in the long run, Smit said, in terms of employment creation this is not an ideal avenue for investment.
“This is because public infrastructure projects generate the wrong kind of employment when one considers that we are trying to overcome a structural legacy of inequality,” Smit further attacked the strategy.
According to Smit, although public infrastructure development creates employment, in Namibia it can be characterised as temporary, low-skilled and low-wage in nature.
Therefore, he suggested, the kind of employment created in this way is neither the kind that is sustainable, will lift people out of poverty and does nothing to address the significant income inequality in Namibia.
He added that inefficient government bureaucracy and an uncertain policy environment are two of the primary reasons cited for Namibia's drop in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018.
He said despite these issues being identified repeatedly in successive WEF Global Competitiveness Reports the government remains stubborn in its refusal to take the kind of action that is needed to support and facilitate private sector employment creation.
“One can only assume that Swapo's behaviour is driven by its preference for government to be the primary driver of the economy, for thereby it controls Namibian society. Swapo's dominance of Namibia as a priority clearly enjoys precedence over the socio-economic advancement and wellbeing of Namibians.”
Smit said this is further evidenced in Swapo's poverty eradication initiatives which seek only to further entrench a system of dependency instead of programmes and policies that aim to equip Namibians with the skills, knowledge and means to become self-reliant.
STAFF REPORTER
Smit's accusation was made in response to an article published last week in the Namibian Sun, which said that Namibia is now the third most unequal country in the world, in terms of income inequality.
He said Swapo's failure in this regard is primarily because of its approach to employment creation.
“Conventional wisdom holds that government's role in employment creation should be limited to creating and maintaining a legislative and policy environment that is conducive to new business establishments and attractive to foreign direct investment,” Smit further said.
According to Smit's observation, Swapo has stubbornly clung to the belief and practice that government should be directly involved in employment creation through the expansion of the public service and public infrastructure development.
“By using the public service purely as a tool for employment creation, they have increased the number of people engaged in unproductive activity,” Smit said, criticising government's approach to tackle unemployment.
He added that the increase in the size of the public service means that there are less resources to go around for each individual public servant. He argued that while public infrastructure development indeed benefits the economy in the long run, Smit said, in terms of employment creation this is not an ideal avenue for investment.
“This is because public infrastructure projects generate the wrong kind of employment when one considers that we are trying to overcome a structural legacy of inequality,” Smit further attacked the strategy.
According to Smit, although public infrastructure development creates employment, in Namibia it can be characterised as temporary, low-skilled and low-wage in nature.
Therefore, he suggested, the kind of employment created in this way is neither the kind that is sustainable, will lift people out of poverty and does nothing to address the significant income inequality in Namibia.
He added that inefficient government bureaucracy and an uncertain policy environment are two of the primary reasons cited for Namibia's drop in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018.
He said despite these issues being identified repeatedly in successive WEF Global Competitiveness Reports the government remains stubborn in its refusal to take the kind of action that is needed to support and facilitate private sector employment creation.
“One can only assume that Swapo's behaviour is driven by its preference for government to be the primary driver of the economy, for thereby it controls Namibian society. Swapo's dominance of Namibia as a priority clearly enjoys precedence over the socio-economic advancement and wellbeing of Namibians.”
Smit said this is further evidenced in Swapo's poverty eradication initiatives which seek only to further entrench a system of dependency instead of programmes and policies that aim to equip Namibians with the skills, knowledge and means to become self-reliant.
STAFF REPORTER
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