The persistent drought in Namibia, has affected a variety of farmers across the country resulting in a large number of livestock’s perishing.
Farmers have been giving an outcry to the government to come on board and assist them. Due to the loss of the live stocks that farmers are losing on a daily basis and the ongoing drought; President Hage Geingob officially declared a state of emergency on 6 May. The government has set aside N$ 572.7 million to assist drought-affected farmers and vulnerable citizens.
Although the government has set aside a number of millions to assist farmers; this seems to be not enough. Hence, the government is proposing a 2% voluntary salary deductions from employed citizens directed to address the plight facing Namibians due to drought, and also to fund youth skills and entrepreneurship programmes. According to sources, the exercise is voluntary, however the outcome of the amount that will be collected will be significant if more national working class throw their hands on the wheel.
President Hage Geingob have indicated that, cabinet members have already confirmed their commitment to contribute 2% of their salary for one year to support the said initiatives.
Although the proposal seems to be a good initiative in light of assisting farmers, it have been met with mixed feelings by the public at large and workers unions. Most civilians are claiming that the government must take full responsibility for finding solutions for the drought which is affecting so many farmers. National union of Namibian workers, Job Muniaro does not also support the initiatives, as he feels that Namibians are already reeling under extreme drought conditions which have made it difficult for them to feed their families.
A civilian, that was interviewed by Namfarmers stated that “”the government need to learn from this drought and use it to tackle future predicament”. According to him, the government should set up an emergency natural disaster account that is solely intended to handle crisis of such matter. This account will enable the government to be self-dependency and also avoid the government from asking donor and bail out from external parties.
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