Geingob tackles ratings fearsPresident Hage Geingob on Friday addressed financial concerns before jetting off to New York. Dodgy tenders will be reopened The government is investigating possible instances of fraudulently priced local tenders quoted in US dollars to cash in on exchange-rate fluctuations. “There are a few companies being investigated in that regard and we’ve been told in some instances it was a mistake,” President Hage Geingob said at a press conference in Windhoek on Friday.
“But, we are investigating. Give us time.”
Primarily aimed at addressing criticism of his current visit to the US and a pending teachers’ strike before national examinations, Geingob also addressed the country’s risky financial position and news of drought-relief food gone to waste at a Prosperita warehouse.
“Our policy stance has foreseen some of the risks, and evaded some,” Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said, explaining the government’s current tightening of its purse strings.
“Some measures were taken even before announcement of this year’s budget, for example, substantially reducing subsistence and travel allowances by 45%,” he said.
“The message we are giving is, that is in place. Now we have to maintain it. Not all actions we take will be without pain, but they are the right thing to do.”
Geingob denied allegations that he had approved a 6% salary increase for himself, saying his salary was in the hands of the Public Office Bearers’ Remuneration and Benefits Commission.
He further updated the media on a previous query about his charity donations.
He declared that 34% of his monthly salary went to First Lady Monica Geingos’s One Economy Foundation, and another 35% to disadvantaged families at Tsumeb, Otavi, Otjiwarongo, Grootfontein, and Kalkfeld. The beneficiaries are selected by those towns’ mayors, he said.
Rotten food
With regard to 254 bags of maize meal spoilt by rain at a Prosperita warehouse in February, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the issue had been addressed by her office days after it occurred.
Asked whether those responsible would be punished, she said initial investigations did not find any wrongdoing.
“Of course the Public Service Act can be invoked if that was the case, but in this case the food seemed to go rotten due to a leak in the roof,” she said.
The food was still being kept in the warehouse as arrangements for its disposal was delayed after analyses had been done to determine if it could be used as animal fodder. “It was however found that it was not fit for either human or animal consumption, and we are now waiting for it to be disposed,” she said.
Tough measures
Addressing the government’s efforts to optimise spending, Geingob said tenders found to be deceitfully quoted could be reopened.
“Any unethical tender can be reopened,” he said.
Geingob also spoke about the government’s New Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF), which was cited by ratings agency Fitch as a potential risk to foreign investment.
“The bone of contention here is the 25% clause (for local shareholding). Some are saying ‘even take 50%’, others are asking ‘to whom must we give 25%’?” Geingob said.
“Nobody can accuse this government, since the days of Sam Nujoma or Hifikepunye Pohamba, of being unfair to white people. What we’re saying is let us hold hands. Not only one hand holds the other.
“The fact is there was injustice in this country,” he said, adding that the businesses that brought NEEEF to Fitch’s attention had acted prematurely.
“It just seems like protectionism. We’ve simply said lets discuss this,” he said.
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