Pohamba’s Legacy: Does Anyone Care?

• By Kaipaherue Kandjii

There appears to be some disconnection regarding project continuity, as shown by the disregard for former President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s billion-dollar capital projects. When President Hage Geingob came into office, Pohamba’s projects, namely the Neckartal Dam, the national bulk fuel storage, and the mass housing programme, were already halfway done.

The Neckartal Dam was completed in 2018 at N$$5.7 billion, up from N$3.2 billion in 2013. Neckartal holds 857 million cubic meters, the equivalent of 300,000 Olympic swimming pools. The dam, now Namibia’s biggest water body, is three times more than Hardap Dam.

The government constructed Neckartal to provide water for irrigation schemes with 5,000 hectares.

Neckartal should also create economic opportunities for the //Karas region and Keetmanshoop, about 40km away. In 2021, Neckartal was filled, yet the envisaged irrigation scheme has not taken off the ground.

The idea of the national bulk fuel storage was mooted in 2014 to increase the government capacity from a week to a month. The facility was supposed to cost less than a billion in the planning stages but chewed N$6.5 b. One of the reasons the government built the storage was to have a secure fuel supply.

Through the Development Bank of Namibia, the government acquired two loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB) – one for N$2,8 billion and another for N$1,5 billion. The taxpayers are paying a levy to pay back these loans.

FOR MORE: GRAB A COPY OF THIS WEEK’S EDITION