Constitution just a paper - GeingobPresident slams NEEEF critics President Hage Geingob has warned people who are against NEEEF to propose viable alternatives instead of “hiding behind the laws of the country”. 0 President Hage Geingob yesterday stressed that the time to redistribute wealth through New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has come.Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Swapo Party''s second policy conference in Windhoek yesterday, Geingob strongly advised people who are against NEEEF to engage the government with viable solutions and not hide behind the laws of the country.
The president warned that the constitution is “just a paper”.
“Let us therefore hold hands and see how best to reduce this and other divides in our society,” said Geingob.
This comes at a time when a number of white businesspeople are gearing themselves for a court case to fight NEEEF or to move their businesses to other countries.
The NEEEF Bill in its current form proposes a mandatory minimum requirement that white-owned private companies must sell “at least” 25%, or a percentage determined by a minister, to previously disadvantaged persons (PDPs).
Geingob also took issue with people who habitually criticise every attempt by the government to redistribute wealth.
“They even said no to taxing wealth . . . apparently only whites are paying taxes. We must discuss this [matter] openly and come up with good proposals and not just cry and say do not touch us, it does not work like that,” he said.
Swapo Party
The president also warned against what he called “negative narrative” and deliberate tactics to discredit the government and the Swapo Party.
“I can never subscribe to the propaganda that our mighty Swapo Party or our beloved Land of the Brave in any way constitutes a sinking ship. We now find what I term Namibia pessimists who, in their assessment of the state of our country, consistently paint a picture of Namibia as a sinking ship and feel personally offended when the statistics prove that Namibia is a country on the march,” he said.
The president also urged party members to not wash their dirty linen in public and instead use the conference as a platform to air and resolve their grievances.
According to him it is “human nature” to disagree but he advised party members to agree inside the party and hold hands outside.
“This thing of even a minister going to the press for popularity maybe ... stand up and make your case here,” he urged.
Geingob further highlighted that it is important that Swapo becomes a party that is at the forefront of the economic emancipation, just as it was at the forefront of the movement towards political independence.
“We shall never become static or atrophy. Let us not forget that in our policy documents of 1976, we declared that the government of a truly liberated Namibia will wage the struggle towards the abolition of all forms of exploitation of man by man and woman by woman and the destructive spirit of individualism, tribalism, nepotism, racism, sexism and aggrandisement of wealth and power by individuals, groups and classes,” said Geingob.
JEMIMA BEUKES