Millions for snacks, gifts

Jo-Maré Duddy – The Office of Founding President Sam Nujoma spent an estimated N$824 000 on official entertainment and corporate gifts in 2017/18, enough to cover 687 pensioners’ allowance of N$1 200 for a month.

In total, the Nujoma office’s total budget for entertainment, gifts and office refreshments in 2017/18 stood at N$928 000. This is equal to 773 pensioners’ monthly state allowance.

Overall, the government spent more than N$20.5 million of tax payers’ money on entertainment, gifts and office refreshments in 2017/18. Although N$472 000 or 2.3% less than the previous fiscal year, the millions could have paid for the upgrades and renovation of the Onandjoke Hospital (N$10 million), as well as for the upgrades and renovations at the Nkurenkuru District Hospital (N$7 million) and Gobabis District Hospital (N$3 million) in 2017/18.

The remaining N$524 000 could have paid for the N$232 000 spent on an after school centre in Khomasdal for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and up to 100 mobile street children. And there would have been nearly enough left to have paid for upgrades and renovation of N$300 000 of the Namibian Children’s Home in Windhoek East.

New budget

For 2018/19, government’s total budget for entertainment, gifts and office refreshments was slashed by nearly 48% or N$9.8 million to N$10.7 million.

Admirable as the cut may be, the smaller budget still equals 8 568 increased state monthly pensions of N$1 250. Of the 410 529 Namibians who, according to 2016 data by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), doesn’t have the N$520.80 monthly to lift them out of poverty, the entertainment budget could have helped nearly 20 565 for a month.

The total entertainment, gifts and office refreshments budget is just about N$1 million less than the N$11.9 million the government plans to spend on vehicles in total in 2018/19.

The budget further dwarfs the N$1 million set aside for the construction of a primary school at Outapi in 2018/19. It also exceeds development money budgeted for: Combined School at Katima Mulilo (N$6 million), a primary school at Ehangano (N$8 million), Mureti Secondary School at Opuwo (N$8 million), Rukonga Vision School (N$5 million), a primary school at Tsaraxa-aibes at Otjiwarongo (N$8 million), Vision Secondary School at Epembe (N$6 million), a primary school at Oshakati South (N$7 million), a primary school at Otuzemba (N$7 million) and a primary school at Otvai (N$6 million).

The 10.7 million is broken down as: Entertainment of politicians (nearly N$2.88 million), office refreshments (N$4.3 million) and official entertainment and corporate gifts (nearly N$3.52 million).

Of the total, about a fifth – around N$2.2 million – is allocated to the Office of the President, under which the Nujoma office resorts. The latter’s total entertainment budget for 2018/19 is N$336 million, compared to Pres Hage Geingob office’s N$670 million.

Geingob’s office last year spent an estimated N$3.1 million on entertainment, gifts and office refreshments. The bulk of this – N$2.8 million – was for official entertainment and corporate gifts.