Sostenus Wilherm
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani has rejected the government’s midterm budget review, accusing it of failing to address the cost of living, housing shortages, agricultural challenges and sluggish economic growth.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday during finance minister Erica Shafudah’s presentation of the midterm budget review, Venaani said the government was prioritising the wrong areas while ordinary Namibians continued to struggle with basic necessities.
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes a duty,” Venaani said, repeating the statement as he argued that the budget did not respond adequately to the country’s socio-economic challenges.
He questioned how the review would ease pressure on households struggling to afford food, fuel and other essentials, warning that economic growth figures meant little if they did not translate into improved living conditions.
“How does this mid-term budget address the very critical question of the cost of living of an ordinary Namibian today, bread and butter issues?” he asked.
Venaani challenged the government to benchmark Namibia against stronger performing African economies rather than justify its economic performance by comparing it with countries experiencing slower growth.
He cited Zambia’s projected economic growth of 7.7% this year, arguing that Namibia needed a similarly ambitious growth trajectory to create jobs and improve prosperity.
“If we want to give prosperity to the people of this country, our economy must grow at 7.7% minimum,” he said.
He also questioned what had become of the recommendations from an economic commission established by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to advise on growing the economy.
Venaani argued that Namibia could not continue blaming weak growth on external economic conditions without addressing domestic factors limiting productivity and investment.
Turning to public debt, he raised concerns about the country’s debt to gross domestic product ratio, which he put at 68%, questioning whether borrowed funds were being invested in productive sectors capable of generating economic growth.
“Are we borrowing this country into revenge or are we borrowing it into the future?” he asked.
He added, “What are we doing with the money that we are borrowing? Are we investing this money to grow the economy because the economy is not growing?”
Venaani said the government needed to explain how public borrowing was contributing to economic expansion, job creation and improved livelihoods.
He also criticised what he described as inadequate support for agriculture and local industries, arguing that the government should protect domestic producers while encouraging agricultural production.
Venaani welcomed the proposal to zero-rate certain agricultural imports but warned that such measures would not help local farmers if domestic industries remained exposed to competition without sufficient support.
He cited chicken farmers in the Otjozondjupa region as an example of producers who needed protection to sustain local production and strengthen agricultural value chains.
The PDM leader further questioned the allocation of N$1.9 billion to international relations compared with N$1.5 billion for agriculture, arguing that the latter deserved greater attention because of its importance to employment and food production.
“The government is spending the same amount of money on international relations, more money on international relations, 1.9 billion and 1.5 billion on agriculture,” he said.
Venaani argued that agricultural funding should reflect the difficulties facing farmers, particularly amid foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) challenges affecting the livestock sector and farmers’ ability to sell their animals.
He said the budget should have provided more direct assistance to producers struggling to maintain their operations and support their families.
Housing and sanitation also featured prominently in his criticism, with Venaani accusing the government of neglecting communities living in informal settlements.
He questioned why Namibia’s cement resources were not translating into more affordable housing and better living conditions for ordinary citizens.
Venaani urged ministers to visit Katutura and witness the conditions under which some residents live, including inadequate sanitation and households forced to carry water in containers.
“Go see the dumps of dirt and heaps of dirt that are there. Go see Namibians taking water and jerrycans going to their homes,” he said.
He called on municipalities to allocate land to people living in informal settlements, arguing that secure land ownership could help residents build assets and contribute to economic growth.
Venaani also raised concerns about public servants, including security guards, police officers, nurses and teachers, whom he said were living in shacks despite their employment.
On fuel prices, he argued that the proposed subsidy was insufficient to provide meaningful relief to Namibians, particularly those travelling long distances and farmers facing rising operational costs.
He further called for an extension of the tax amnesty period, saying farmers affected by FMD and difficulties selling livestock needed more time to recover financially.
Venaani said the government should engage banks to explore ways of supporting struggling farmers and preventing them from losing their properties because of financial distress.
He concluded that the budget debate should focus on practical measures to grow the economy rather than political disagreements.
“We are resisting this budget because it is not addressing justice for the people of this country,” he said.
