IPPR releases analysis of Geingob’s first three years in office

WINDHOEK, 07 APR – The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has released a report on President Hage Geingob’s first three years in office.
The report, titled ‘Three Years of Geingob: Harambee at halftime’ was released at a public lecture here on Wednesday.
It amongst others commended the Namibian Head of State for maintaining peace and stability and credited him for honouring his promise to disclose his assets in 2015 and for reminding members of the National Assembly at all times to do the same.
With regards to corruption, the report shows that Geingob did little to adequately empower the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Namibian Police Force (NamPol) and the country’s courts to properly investigate and prosecute a number of high-level corruption cases.
It indicated that the President has backed off from investigating various cases in which millions of Namibian Dollars were reported missing or misappropriated by some politically-connected individuals.
The report however commended Geingob for the speedy introduction of the Food Bank.
“Essentially, the President has made good on his promise to pilot the initiative. But to date, the initiative is yet to have the expected coverage and success envisaged, as the majority of Namibians still continue to battle poverty and hunger,” it reads.
Safety nets such as the old age grant and Food Bank have helped to decrease severe poverty in the country, but recent poverty statistics still highlight key problems in lifting people from poverty en masse, it stressed.
The rates of unemployment in Namibia remain high, with the national unemployment rate currently standing at 34 per cent. Women and the youth are especially affected by a lack of employment.
During the public lecture, several local political analysts and economic experts advised President Geingob and his team to address the alarming rates of the youth unemployment urgently and to establish vocational training centres in all 14 regions for young people to acquire the needed skills for the job market.
About 500 people attended the public lecture.

NAMPA