The PDM has noted with grave concern the purchase of the luxurious Oropoko Lodge by the Namibia Defence Force for N$45 million of taxpayers’ money.
This lodge was a going concern that brought money into Namibia’s struggling economy. It is no secret that tourism contributes the most to Namibia’s GDP at this stage, and the purchase of this lodge means that a serious earner of foreign currency for this country has now been converted into a dead loss – in fact, it has now become a liability to the tax payer. It is clear that from being a nett earner for Namibia, it has now, in the hands of the NDF become a nett consumer as the taxpayer will be expected to pay for the maintenance. After hearing about all the technical innovations on this lodge it is further clear that this maintenance will not be cheap as it will require experts to keep the various systems operational. Furthermore, according to recent visitors to the lodge its rooms were in serious need of renovation – another expense for the taxpayer.
One must wonder why the NDF has been allowed to buy this property without any verification of what exactly is on the farm. What exactly have they bought for our N$45 million? Are there actually any valuable animals left on this lodge – a list should be drawn up of what animals there are and their numbers. Parliament should be given insight into this list (drawn up by independent observers) as well as of the other assets and the state they are in.
With Namibia’s economy in tatters it is incomprehensible that the NDF and the treasury could spend the taxpayers’ money on a property that will now become a drain on the public purse. We read in the media that the owner of the lodge, Mr Kurt Steinhausen is a long- standing friend of the Founding Father. Is this a case of him wishing to retire and sell his probably run-down property and Swapo agreeing to bail him out because he is unable to get the astronomical price he wants for Oropoko? Is the Namibian taxpayer being made to suffer further economic hardship for the sake of a political comrade? Think of what else this N$45 million could have been spent on – school text books, school maintenance, medicine, and housing – the list is endless.
What must Namibians believe when the NDF announced two weeks ago that it was sending thousands of soldiers home because it lacked the money to feed and house them further? The Minister of Finance found it necessary last year to stop almost all capital projects overnight, creating chaos and hardship in both the public and private sector. Contractors are expected to tighten their belts and cope with no payment, while these austerity measures put scores of small and medium businesses out of work and thousands of working people on the streets. Yet the NDF spends N$45 million on a luxury lodge it cannot use and certainly doesn’t need!
It is time for this rot to stop – Namibia simply cannot afford this squandering of its money when more than 40% of our people are unemployed and thousands of families exist in shacks.
The reasons given by the Minister of the NDF, Penda Ya Ndakolo for the purchase of Oropoko are completely spurious – soldiers don’t need to learn about nature conservation and they certainly don’t need a N$45 million shooting range. What further boggles the mind is why the NDF would need such a luxurious property for any defence force activities. One cannot help but suspect that the NDF is following the example set by the South African Defence Force before Independence – buying up such luxury properties to serve as holiday resorts for the top brass.
It is further incomprehensible that the Minister of Finance, Mr Calle Schlettwein, could be persuaded to hand over such an enormous sum of the taxpayers’ money at such a difficult time in the country’s economy. This proves again why the PDM is seriously concerned about the fact that that the NDF is not accountable to anybody in this country. The law clearly states all government institutions and ministries are accountable to parliament as the highest law in the land and not the cabinet as the minister seems to think. What is even more worrying is that the auditor-general does not audit the accounts of NDF subsidiary like August 26. It is becoming clearer by the day that the NDF, by means of its carte blanche ticket from the cabinet, is the main driver of corruption in Namibia because there are absolutely no checks and balances on their activities. The NDF clearly sees itself as above the laws and the constitution of Namibia.
The fact that the NDF seems to be the only ministry unaffected by the austerity measures or able to blatantly ignore them, makes one wonder whether they have in fact captured the Swapo government? It has been a characteristic of this government since Independence that the NDF has been its golden child, allowed to do whatever it likes while receiving large allocations from the budget for unknown purposes. Surely this is a sign of a ministry out of control! The PDM believes the time has come for the President to rein this ministry in, in this so-called Year of Reckoning.
The fact that President Geingob officially announced that he was unaware of the NDF’s rogue purchase of the luxury Oropoko Lodge for no good reasons is clear evidence of a lack of control by him and Prime Minister Sara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila over this ministry not to mention proof of bad governance by our two top leaders. In fact, this whole episode makes a mockery of President Geingob’s much-vaunted so-called Year of Reckoning.
The PDM urgently calls on President Geingob to put his money where his mouth is by telling the nation what reckoning will be meted out to the rogue NDF. Will he reverse this deal or must we accept that his Year of Reckoning is a simply damp squid?