Weak military: PDM blasts Swapo

STAFF REPORTER Popular Democratic Movement PDM parliamentarian Nico Smit says the official opposition is very concerned about the “appalling condition of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF)”, given what government spends annually on the country’s armed forces.“The PDM asserts that the Namibian taxpayer can no longer afford the financial burden of keeping former People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) generals and commanders fat and happy. We can no longer pay to keep Swapo in power. This is unsustainable and threatens the long term economic viability of the Namibian state,” Smit said in a statementThis follows a Namibian Sun article last week that revealed that Namibia's military has been ranked as one of the weakest in the world, at 126th out of 137 countries, by the 2019 Global Firepower Index.Among 34 African countries, Namibia also ranked poorly in 28th position.Smit said in the 2019/20 budget, after the revisions of October 2019, the defence force received an allocation of N$5.5 billion for operational expenses and a further N$385 million under the development budget. “Therefore the total expenditure on the military in the current fiscal year amounts to about N$5.9 billion.”Smit said defence expenditure has been relatively stable over the past five years, totalling N$6.6 billion in 2015/16, N$5.9 billion in 2016/17, N$5.7 billion in 2017/18 and N$5.9 billion in 2018/19. “The disconcerting fact is that the military has consumed roughly N$30 billion from the state’s coffers over a five-year period only to end up ranked among the 10 worst defence forces in the world!” Taxpayers ‘paying through their noses’“Namibian taxpayers are paying through their noses for a service which does little to add to their quality of life.“Also consider that in the current fiscal year, N$380 million has been allocated for training, leaving us with the inexplicable situation that if so much money goes into training, why is the military’s ability ranked so low? The PDM therefore demand that the defence minister tells us who are being trained for what?” Smit asked.The Global Firepower Index analyses data on military spending, strength and readiness of 137 countries.The ranking is based largely on each nation's potential conventional war-making capability across land, sea and air, with the final ranking incorporating values related to resources, finances and geography.Smit said the ranking of the NDF, in the context of Namibia’s annual military spend, is cause for serious concern. “This is because despite consuming a significant portion of public resources, the security apparatus makes no commensurate contribution, either to the economy, or to both Namibia’s internal or external security,” he said. “This inevitably leads to the suspicion that the NDF is being used by the Swapo government as a vehicle for employment creation.”‘Unproductive operational expenditure’Smit said two related questions need to be asked. “Firstly, is this the most efficient means of employment creation, and secondly, what return on investment does the Namibian public see? It is no stretch of the imagination to conceive that such unproductive operational expenditure in no way contributes to economic growth,” he said. Smit said the PDM is also very concerned that expense items are indicated for the defence force’s contribution to United Nations peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in South Sudan. “From the information we obtained, we understand that the ministry of defence is compensated extensively by the UN for this service. “Furthermore, it is also our understanding that Namibian military personnel in the DRC are employed to protect the mining interests of the defence force holding company August 26. “If this is not so, we require an unequivocal undertaking by the minister of defence that this is not the case. Nevertheless, we maintains our demand of an explanation of what happens to the compensation the UN provides to Namibia for security services rendered,” Smit continued.Confusion around staff complementSmit said there is also some confusion about the total staff complement of the NDF. “The 2019/20 budget lists 9 153 members in active service but it omits any figure for the number of combat soldiers in the army. The indicated number of established full-time positions for combat soldiers is 20 799, but it is not indicated what the actual number of serving soldiers is. “Yet, this unknown number still collects N$2.8 billion from the government’s budget. In 2015/16 there were 26 623 serving military personnel in the defence force, decreasing by about 1 000 to 25 951 in 2016/17. “Since 2017, this figure was no longer published by the ministry of finance in budget documentation,” Smit added.He said the safety and security ministry receives another N$5.5 billion from treasury. “The public safety budget category costs Namibians around N$12 billion per year, or 22% of total expenditure. “Thus, more than one fifth of the entire government spending goes into our security apparatus. It is unacceptable that such significant public expenditure produces such a poor return on investment, namely a military that is ranked amongst the 10 worst in the world,” Smit added.

Weak military: PDM blasts Swapo

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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Weak military: PDM blasts Swapo

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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