Geingob trapped in a system that didn’t work - Tjaronda
'Did his job well'
Tjaronda said Namibia's housing crisis did not start with Geingob and was likely a challenging issue for him to balance being a nationalist and a party loyalist.
Social activist Sandie Tjaronda says late President Hage Geingob was eager to introduce a basic income grant (BIG), with his only concern being that it should not lead to dependence.
Tjaronda said he believes the creation of a poverty eradication ministry was testimony to Geingob's commitment to changing Namibia’s social dynamics.
According to Tjaronda, Geingob could have done a lot, but he believed in a system and was held accountable to institutions. He did not abuse his executive powers to ensure that "everybody had bread in their hand."
“The basic income grant conversation was there; he was continuously looking at how we could refine it. He was entertaining that conversation and we can really give him a thumbs-up,” said Tjaronda.
Daunting task
Tjaronda believes that the late president was sincerely committed to bridging the income gap and the high levels of inequality, but it was a daunting task.
“He wanted to make sure we bridged the gaps; there was a difficult limitation to getting people out of shacks, but as a president I think he did well. He was just trapped in a system that he believed should work but at times it was not working," he said.
"The systems are still there, but some of them are not working in my view, and I will stand by that. He was caught up in a legacy that he still had to carry. He came from a legacy of two other presidents that were there, whether they created backlogs in certain aspects, he had to unblock that,” he added.
He said it is important to contextualise Geingob’s administration against the shocks it experienced, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, with no previous administrations preparing for this type of crisis.
Tjaronda also stressed that the prevailing housing crisis did not start with Geingob, and it was likely challenging for him to balance being a nationalist and a party loyalist.
“Shack dwelling started a long time ago. We should have stopped it a long time ago. These are the issues that he was trying to unlock but it was very difficult because he had to satisfy some interests in the party. Humanly, he did his part and he did his job very well,” he said.
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Tjaronda said he believes the creation of a poverty eradication ministry was testimony to Geingob's commitment to changing Namibia’s social dynamics.
According to Tjaronda, Geingob could have done a lot, but he believed in a system and was held accountable to institutions. He did not abuse his executive powers to ensure that "everybody had bread in their hand."
“The basic income grant conversation was there; he was continuously looking at how we could refine it. He was entertaining that conversation and we can really give him a thumbs-up,” said Tjaronda.
Daunting task
Tjaronda believes that the late president was sincerely committed to bridging the income gap and the high levels of inequality, but it was a daunting task.
“He wanted to make sure we bridged the gaps; there was a difficult limitation to getting people out of shacks, but as a president I think he did well. He was just trapped in a system that he believed should work but at times it was not working," he said.
"The systems are still there, but some of them are not working in my view, and I will stand by that. He was caught up in a legacy that he still had to carry. He came from a legacy of two other presidents that were there, whether they created backlogs in certain aspects, he had to unblock that,” he added.
He said it is important to contextualise Geingob’s administration against the shocks it experienced, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, with no previous administrations preparing for this type of crisis.
Tjaronda also stressed that the prevailing housing crisis did not start with Geingob, and it was likely challenging for him to balance being a nationalist and a party loyalist.
“Shack dwelling started a long time ago. We should have stopped it a long time ago. These are the issues that he was trying to unlock but it was very difficult because he had to satisfy some interests in the party. Humanly, he did his part and he did his job very well,” he said.
[email protected]
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