No tolerance on corrupt civil servants – Schlettwein
Agriculture, water and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein has cautioned that theft and vandalism of water installation remain a matter of great concern in the ministry. He added that four officials have so far been charged for their involvement in some of the criminal cases involving the theft of critical infrastructure; thus, he warned that no tolerance would be shown.
“Unfortunately, the impact of the rural water development programme for severely under-serviced communities has been completely diminished in some cases. Boreholes, solar panels, pumps, cables and switchboards of 20 installations have been destroyed of late – and obviously, the affected communities are again without a secure supply of water,” said Schlettwein on Monday during the annual staff and stakeholder address.
Stock theft and poaching are other criminal activities that continue to cripple many farmers.
Schlettwein said it would appear that in many cases, civil servants are involved.
“We may not tolerate any of it. It harms those entities that produce food for our daily needs, and we may not allow it to continue unabated,” the minister emphasised.
Schlettwein added that for this year, the ministry is set to revive and elevate the fortunes of the sector in all its three dimensions of agriculture, water and land reform as catalysts for food and water security, poverty eradication, wealth creation and the systematic erosion of income inequalities.
The sector recorded moderate growth in 2022, estimated at 3.6%, owing to increased activity in both livestock and crop sub-sectors.
The agriculture sector remains the backbone of the Namibian economy, and it has over the years been one of the main drivers contributing to the national economy significantly.
“Somehow, unprecedented developments in the global economy and geopolitical environment, which manifested in record high inflation, particularly for food, fertilisers and energy, further disruption of supply chain channels affecting the supply of basic foodstuffs and farming inputs, still threaten food security objectives and our efforts to build back better amidst the Covid-19 pandemic which still lingers,” he added.
Schlettwein said these developments are significant, and they unmask Namibia’s vulnerability – not only to climate change but also more importantly to external event shocks.
According to him, these adverse developments warrant a policy shift from over-reliance on trade as an anchor for food security to food self-sufficiency anchored on intensive agriculture, modernisation and improving domestic productive capacity across the value chains.
On the multi-billion-dollar irrigation dam, the minister said two farms were acquired near the Neckartal dam, with a combined size of over 11 177 hectares at the cost of N$5.7 million to enable the development of a much-anticipated irrigation project.
Furthermore, Schlettwein noted many abattoirs in the country are in mortuaries.
At the same time, he said, high priority and urgency must be placed on the operationalisation of the rest of the abattoirs in the northern communal areas to unlock market opportunities and give greater effect to commodity-based trade.
“It is through these targeted efforts that secure beef products from the Katima Mulilo abattoir are now reaching markets south of the veterinary cordon fence and regional markets such as Ghana. The ministry, together will all stakeholders – Meatco, Meat Board of Namibia, farmers and local authorities – must work collaboratively to restore effective production of slaughter-ready cattle and market conditions for the abattoirs countrywide,” he explained.
He also stated the equipping of the Rundu abattoir has been completed, and the technical handover to Meatco has been done. The official handover of the abattoir will proceed in the coming weeks.