Corruption and favouritism enemies of peace, stability and development

President Hage Geingob inaugurated the Walvis Bay International Airport’s N$100 million terminal on Friday, 22 July, commending all stakeholders for the impressive piece of infrastructure; and using the opportunity to caution the “Mr. and Mrs. 10%” accepting bribes referring to them as “enemies of peace, stability and development”. The President also cautioned against dishing out tenders to individuals and organisations not fit or qualified to do the job.

The President took the opportunity to shed light on his concern about corruption regarding tenders being intrusted to “inexperienced or incompetent contractors who miss deadlines and deliver low quality infrastructure,” adding “every cent of public funds that goes into infrastructure development needs to be well spent.
This means optimal procurement processes which ensure that government obtains best value for public funds. This means there is no room for procurement processes which lack fairness or cost sensitivity. Most importantly, best value for government money means there is no room for the Mr and Mrs Ten Percents who solicit or accept bribes.
“We have come too far, as a country, to allow a few corrupt minded individuals to undermine the economic aspirations of an entire nation.” Also referring to corruption as cancer that requires early intervention to prevent it from spreading and turning malignant.
In the same breath, the President expressed his pride in Namibia currently rated by Transparency International as the 4th most transparent African country. The Harambee Prosperity Plan aspires for us to become number one.
The state of the art terminal building is part of many upgrades made to the Walvis Bay Airport, the second International Airport in Namibia, which includes a runway valued at N$202 million and a polymer boundary fence at a cost of N$ 48 million.
This fence is the first of its kind in Namibia, suitable for the weather conditions at the coast. “Namibia can now boast of having another facility which meets the international benchmarks of functional efficiency and operational safety for airports.
This highlights the indisputable fact that Namibia is a nation on the march towards prosperity. A nation that is able to build world-class infrastructure is a nation on the march,” commented President Hage Geingob on the new upgrades made.