When Namibia became independent ten years ago, our society was deeply scarred by the ravages of war, social and economic discrimination, and racial and ethnic hatred. The country’s economy was stagnant, and continued to be the hostage of the South African economy. The only serious economic activities within the country were mining and agriculture, with little value-added. Fisheries were in dire straits because of overexploitation.

My government therefore faced many challenges beyond the establishment of the first government of independent Namibia. In a country that was born after long years of struggle, our first task was to create an environment of peace through reconciliation and by bringing into the government and the economy those citizens who were in the past left out because of the colour of their skin. Because of these historical factors, commitment to peace, democracy and economic progress have been my government’s driving force over the last ten years.

Our policy of reconciliation has greatly helped create a society that is largely in harmony. Our policy of affirmative action has largely removed the inherited inequity in access to opportunity, and our work goes on to remove enormous social deficits by vigorously pursuing social initiatives, such as, protection of human rights, access to education and training, provision of health services, and promotion of industrial harmony. Our commitment to pan-Africanism has also helped us play our role within the regional context in creating, initiating and promoting peace and democracy in the region.

I look back at the last ten years with great satisfaction; for, our country has made significant strides in our march towards our vision, Vision 2030. Our vision, that we had articulated two years ago, is to raise Namibia to level of an industrialised state by the year 2030. During the last ten years, our successes have been many. However, we also face many challenges.     

We are very pleased that our policy of reconciliation was embraced by the Namibians, and has therefore helped catalyse all other human development initiatives. We are also happy that democracy is becoming increasingly entrenched with every election. Our experiences with democracy and reconciliation have been most satisfactory.

Our commitment to peace and reconciliation is also reflected in the way we were able to bring Walvis Bay and offshore islands back to the Namibian fold; and the way we resolved the Kasikili island dispute with Botswana. We have worked relentlessly to bring peace in Angola and we are always ready to play our part in solving the problems. But, making peace is often not in our hands; for, we are not a party to the conflict. Similarly, our involvement under the umbrella of SADC has played an important role in stabilising the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and making it possible for the peace initiative to be realised. Price of our indifference would have been genocide similar to the one that took place in Rwanda while the world watched.

At the home front, we completed the process of restructuring the government, and bringing on board those who were in the past left out. Initiatives are now in progress to make the government more efficient and effective with the introduction of Public Service Charters. Last two years’ work on anti-corruption initiatives would also culminate in appropriate legislation being brought to the parliament this year. Within the government, new regional and local governments were created to bring the government closer to the people. Our policy of decentralisation is progressing very satisfactorily.

Our actions at correcting social deficits have required us to spend increasing amounts of our resources on the provision of education and health. But, we can be pleased with the results achieved so far. Over 95% of children of school going age are now in schools. Enrolment in tertiary education institutions is growing. Immunisation programmes have made significant headway in reducing the incidence of communicable diseases, more communities today have access to clinics than ever before, and infant and maternal mortality rates have come down. However, the spread of HIV infection remains a very pressing and serious concern.

On the social welfare front, pensions of all senior citizens were equalised and we hope to improve on the benefits starting with the next budget. Labour Act and our social security system are increasingly protecting our workers. Gender equality has the force of law and there is very visible improvement in women’s representation in politics, government, and the private sector. House ownership is becoming a reality for increasing number of families. Potable water and electricity are available to an increasing number of communities. We also initiated the land reform process, but progress has been exceedingly slow.

We believe that the success of our democracy, and continued peace and tranquillity depend on our having a vibrant economy. Economic sectors have therefore received our equal attention. Consequently, despite some rainfall failures and resulting drought years, on average, our economy has grown by some 3.5% annually. But our aim remains seeing our economy grow by at least 5% annually; for, success in addressing the challenge of unemployment and improving the quality of life of people rests on our economy growing significantly more than the population growth rate.

As an indicator of our success in strengthening our economy, we could cite the success of our fisheries sector where the value of fish produced went up by almost 350% from 1991 to 1998. Our agriculture sector, too, has been breaking new ground, with grapes and dates having been successfully cultivated and commercially exploited. Ostrich farming, too, has gained ground. Tourism is doing exceedingly well, with number of tourists visiting Namibia having grown from about 150 000 in 1990 to some 600 000 in 1999. Many of these tourists are high value eco-tourists. Mineral prospecting, exploration and exploitation is taking place at an increased pace. Gas deposits have been revised upwards, diamond mining offshore has taken off, and oil exploration continues. We have also been promoting investment in manufacturing as this sector has the potential of creating significant employment opportunities. To promote the manufacturing sector, we have created a very attractive incentives scheme for the investors. We have established export processing zones, and are encouraging entrepreneurship through government help for small and medium enterprises.

Over the past ten years, we have made significant gains in improving the quality of life of Namibians, and look forward to the future with confidence.

This publication outlines the many successes achieved by the government during the last ten years. It also enumerates the challenges the government faces in the years ahead. With its broad scope, I have no doubt that this publication would be a very useful reference tool for anyone interested in Namibia.