Trump re-election could spell disaster
By Rosalia David
LOCAL political analysts have said United States President Donald Trump’s second term in office would spell disaster for Namibia and other African countries further forcing them to adapt to reduced funding from the Western country.
The 59th US quadrennial presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3.
According to US election polls tracker, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Trump will go head to head for the White House with polls showing that Biden’s lead is widening.
The 10-poll average indicates that just over half of Americans intend to back Biden while Trump’s support trails this by five or six points.
In an interview with Confidente, political analyst Ndumba Kamwanya said, from the beginning Trump has only focused on his country while emphasising that America comes first.
“Ever since he was elected, his words have been ‘America first’ and that is exactly how he has been interacting with other countries.”
He further mentioned that since Trump assumed office in 2017, there has been a reduction in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar).
“I mean he said we are a s**thole country. We are obviously going to see money that was going to other countries being redirected back to America if he is elected. His supporters are also not happy with him because he did not fulfil what he was supposed to do.”
Another political analyst Phanuel Kaapama emphasised that there is a need to take a close look at the American economy and how it has declined.
“We need to look at the impact it would have and firstly, Trump’s rhetoric of ‘America first’ will result to America wanting to spend more of its dollars at home rather than elsewhere so those are the two issues taken together.”
He added that countries should concentrate more on solving problems of unemployment, welfare and improve health systems to prepare for the consequences that may be caused by Trump’s re-election.
“We need to ask ourselves, what strategies we have so that people can survive and that is what I think what needs our attention right now especially for our key programmes to cut down depending on external sources of funding.
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Political analyst Dr Hoze Riruako shared the same sentiment saying that Trump’s re-election would mean nothing to Namibia as he had not initiated new policies that could have benefitted the continent.
He said, “I am not aware of any policy he came up with. Our country has not benefited in any way during his term. There is no doubt that we benefitted from both Barack Obama and George W Bush but ever since then I have not seen anything.
He (Trump) is a capitalist and does everything for himself.
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