Rampant corruption: We are all affected

Questions are regularly being asked nowadays about the long-term effects and impact of the systemic corruption that is killing Namibia.

We all know that it is not sustainable, but have we considered how it may be affecting the fountain where the funds are coming from?

The income tax base for the government of Namibia is not very big, neither is it very broad.

It is, however, relatively dependable and consistent - for the moment.

This may not be the case for much longer, if the current trends and happenings continue unabated.

There is something basic and fundamentally wrong with the principle of where and at what final destinations a lot of this money (taxes) arrives, after it has been raised and collected. General morality and willingness to contribute to the common pool, is being affected more and more, by the “why should I throw away my hard earned money on taxes, if it is going to be wasted or end up in a thief's' pocket anyway?” effect

The fact that criminal scale waste, maladministration and misallocation of monies from the public purse has become such a common occurrence, certainly does not sit well with the tax paying public and companies. The knock on effect of this is that “the ignorant will always wise up” as in the words of Charles Neal.

More importantly though, they will get fed up with this process and start taking action in one form or another to avoid this.

This should set off massive red warning lights to the ones concerned, flashing so bright that it would be impossible to ignore.

Again, just to reiterate: it is not your money! Hands off!

Of course, lower income tax will inevitably lead to lower social spending and economic growth with progressively less to spend on national development goals and other programmes and eventually, less or no money left in the communal pot, to steal from.

Then, as they say, there will be proper problems to contend with.

Be warned!