EDITORIAL: A nation on holiday
Namibia’s calendar is quickly becoming more of a vacation destination than a working timetable. With an alarming surge in public holidays, it’s hard not to wonder if this trend reflects a nation more interested in rest than recovery. By the end of May, the country will have already celebrated 11 public holidays. Astoundingly, six of those are in the month of May alone. And if the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) gets its wish, 12 May - Founding President Sam Nujoma’s birthday - will join the list.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with recognising significant days, the growing number of public holidays seems to be straying dangerously into the realm of excess. If we must declare additional days of reflection or celebration, why not limit them to observance rather than full-blown closures?
Where did this culture of overindulgence come from? Nations are not built on idle rest but on the sweat of productive, driven people. In a small economy like ours, which is still struggling to recover from the aftershocks of Covid-19, the global recession, and years of persistent drought, too many holidays can prove detrimental.
Big businesses may survive the financial strain of too much time off, but what about the over 40,000 SMEs that form the backbone of our economy? These small enterprises, which employ over 200,000 people and contribute roughly 12% to GDP, are not immune to the challenges of excess downtime. If these businesses close shop because they cannot sustain the burden of constant holidays, the pain will be felt at the grassroots level, where unemployment already sits at a staggering 37%.
Namibia needs less time resting on laurels and more time pushing toward prosperity.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with recognising significant days, the growing number of public holidays seems to be straying dangerously into the realm of excess. If we must declare additional days of reflection or celebration, why not limit them to observance rather than full-blown closures?
Where did this culture of overindulgence come from? Nations are not built on idle rest but on the sweat of productive, driven people. In a small economy like ours, which is still struggling to recover from the aftershocks of Covid-19, the global recession, and years of persistent drought, too many holidays can prove detrimental.
Big businesses may survive the financial strain of too much time off, but what about the over 40,000 SMEs that form the backbone of our economy? These small enterprises, which employ over 200,000 people and contribute roughly 12% to GDP, are not immune to the challenges of excess downtime. If these businesses close shop because they cannot sustain the burden of constant holidays, the pain will be felt at the grassroots level, where unemployment already sits at a staggering 37%.
Namibia needs less time resting on laurels and more time pushing toward prosperity.
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