Old Age Grants must be based on the cost of living

Adding N$100 to the monthly Old Age Grant and the Disability Grant in Namibia, making the amount received N$1,400, does not make this year’s budget, as recently announced by Iipumbu Shiimi, Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, a pro-poor budget. Instead, it is a ‘fit-it-in-so-we-can-claim-we-are-doing-something’ budget when it comes to having social grants that fit the actual cost of living in Namibia. With the Parliament’s public viewing gallery full of pensioners and a warm-hearted story about Minister Shiimi’s conversation with a village pensioner in his opening statement, he set the mood for the presentation of a caring, sensitive, effective social…