Independence and the abuse of taxpayer money

As you are reading this opinion piece, remember that we are celebrating the 24th Independence Day anniversary at this difficult moment when many impoverished Namibians are being forcefully evicted and their shacks being demolished by the Windhoek City Council, the very same City Council which not so long ago awarded a prime property at a 70% discounted price to the Deputy Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Hilma Nicanor. In remembrance of those whose blood waters our freedom, because of the love of our country and in respect of those mired in poverty, we thought that the President would not sign off on the expenditure of N$20 million in celebration of the country’s 24th Independence Day anniversary. The Head of State being the custodian of our sovereignty, someone entrusted to protect our national resources, in charge of the country’s ultimate planning and implementation strategies, we find it very disrespectful towards the average Namibia that N$20 million is being spent on one day while the nation is hungry, the youth unemployment rate stands at 68% and many Namibians continue to sit on pavements on a daily basis looking for jobs and the majority of the young working class can no longer afford to purchase plots or build houses. We at RDPYL are of the opinion that every single dollar that comes from the sweat of a toiling Namibian should be utilised to ensure that a better society is created. It’s only when you see what is happening in and around all the regions of Namibia that you start to question where our leaders put their conscience. When did we lose the spirit of comradeship that made each and every one of us brothers and sisters cooperating side by side during our darkest hour in the pre-independence era? We the youth of Namibia want to know how and when corruption, nepotism, and misplaced priorities were allowed to become the virtues that define our economic and political culture. Within a very short time our country has witnessed gross corruption in the form of blatant theft of public funds from the GIPF, SSC and NDC, and many questionable dealings such as the Chinese scholarship saga, the awarding of the Mass Housing Project to a few politically connected people, as well as the inability of the Windhoek City Council to demolish a shack allegedly belonging to a Namibian ambassador while the shacks of the poor were demolished without any mercy. The Namibian taxpayers have become the victim of financial tyranny and daylight robbery carried out by those in power. Public office-bearers are in partnerships with others defrauding the Namibian nation through the misallocation of public funds to support an increasingly burdensome political bureaucracy consisting of ministers and their business partners. In the latest rip-off it was agreed by the political office-bearers of Namibia that N$700 million is to be spent on a new parliament building, N$600 million on a new office for the Prime Minister and another exorbitant amount to purchase a private house for the President and now it’s N$20 million to be spent on the Independence celebrations. Fellow Namibians, the time has come for us all to condemn and reject all forms of corruption whether linked to poor planning, misappropriation of public funds or as a means to orchestrate self-enrichment projects by those entrusted to protect public interests. The time has come for us as a nation to speak with one voice, that enough is enough. As we are to celebrate the 24th independence anniversary of our beloved motherland, let us recommit ourselves to strive to reclaim our country from the claws of the greedy political patronage that has become the sole beneficiary of our national cake of resources. If there was any decency left in the Namibian government , the political leaders would now that spending money on projects not yielding value for society is perceived by society as totally unacceptable. Hence, before you cast your vote in November make sure that you have checked the credibility of the leaders that you are voting for. Monica Nambelela is the secretary-general of the RDP Youth League. MONICA NAMBELELA