So begins the ‘legacy term’
Today marks the last day of President Hage Geingob’s first term in office. Frankly, this was probably the worst five years of our republican life.
Though influenced by external factors in some way, the bigger chunk of the challenges we have faced during Geingob’s first term in office were created by government itself.
The startling claim by Geingob this week that his administration inherited a penniless treasury cannot go unchallenged. We are not challenging the truthfulness of his claim.
However, we are shocked, rather belatedly, about why certain decisions were made by a government that inherited an empty purse. The appointment of two deputy ministers in some ministries (three in the vice-president’s office), the expansion of Parliament to 104 seats, the introduction of a vice-president’s position and initial plans to build a new parliament were reckless actions of an administration that supposedly inherited bare coffers.
This is particularly so when the then new president had been prime minister and knew the kitty had ‘zero’ funds in it.
Tomorrow begins an opportunity for rectification. This is no longer a time to appease peers, as Geingob once damningly admitted was the case. This is not a term for rewarding people for their loyalty to the emperor. It’s a term to place the country on a trajectory towards its former glory.
Though influenced by external factors in some way, the bigger chunk of the challenges we have faced during Geingob’s first term in office were created by government itself.
The startling claim by Geingob this week that his administration inherited a penniless treasury cannot go unchallenged. We are not challenging the truthfulness of his claim.
However, we are shocked, rather belatedly, about why certain decisions were made by a government that inherited an empty purse. The appointment of two deputy ministers in some ministries (three in the vice-president’s office), the expansion of Parliament to 104 seats, the introduction of a vice-president’s position and initial plans to build a new parliament were reckless actions of an administration that supposedly inherited bare coffers.
This is particularly so when the then new president had been prime minister and knew the kitty had ‘zero’ funds in it.
Tomorrow begins an opportunity for rectification. This is no longer a time to appease peers, as Geingob once damningly admitted was the case. This is not a term for rewarding people for their loyalty to the emperor. It’s a term to place the country on a trajectory towards its former glory.
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Namibian Sun
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