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Namibia: Government Under Attack
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New Era (Windhoek)
11 June 2008
Posted to the web 11 June 2008
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
Government has come under fire for failing to address the plight of thousands of Namibians with disabilities.
"We, the majority of people with disabilities in Namibia, have lost hope in the top government especially those whom we thought could make a difference for the people with disabilities in Namibia," Chairperson of the National Federation of People with Disabilities in Namibia, Martin Tjivera, said.
Tjivera made the remarks during the national disability day commemoration yesterday, which was preceded by a march that saw about 200 people participating. He lashed out at the Government for allegedly acting in a slack manner in ensuring that a council, as per the National Disability Act of 2004, is established. This situation has subjected most people with disabilities to increasing abject poverty, he added.
"Policies and programmes meant to address the needs and aspirations of the people with disabilities in Namibia are still falling short, resulting in people with disabilities not getting intended benefits," he said.
Although people with disabilities feel all Namibians should be supportive of initiatives aimed at uplifting their li-ving standards, Tjivera singled out the Ministry of Health and Social Services as particularly neglecting the needs of this section of the society. "Empty promises by top government officials in the ministry frustrate the majority of more than 85000 people living with disabilities," he said. Those affected allege that there is no vision for disability development programmes and thus called for the Office of the Prime Minister to intervene. They further called on the Government to ensure that people with disabilities are represented at different levels of society throughout Namibia. That, according to Tjivera, will enable the Government to address issues that affect people living with disabilities at local, regional and national level.
Disability Advisor to the Prime Minister, Tjiueza Tjombumbi, advises that the Head of State is the only one who can ensure that disability issues are coordinated from one of the highest offices in government. "If we truly want to speed up the implementation of the National Disability Council Act, African Decade of Persons with Disabilities, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Government in particular, the Head of State should ensure that disability issues are coordinated," he said.
He added that the main challenge is how to change the attitudes and perceptions of those responsible for making the decisions regarding disability issues. Tjombumbi said decision makers are ill informed by those around them and those they consult on the basis that they are well versed in disability matters.
In an effort to ensure that policies and laws that favour people with disabilities are implemented, the Office of the Prime Minister requested different agencies, ministries and offices to submit their disability plans of action. Tjombumbi revealed that only 12 submissions have been received and 11 people have been appointed to act as focal disability persons. These would capacitate from the human rights perspective and ensure that there are disability action plans.
People with disabilities remain invisible in the employment arena. Tjombumbi says more needs to be done to ensure that these people benefit from the Affirmative Action Act, Black economic Empowerment, the resettlement programme, rural po-verty reduction programme and the millennium account. In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Minister of Finance, Tjekero Tweya, President Hifikepunye Pohamba acknowledged that disability issues cut across all facets of the social and economic development.
Because of that, the Government has included a disability sub-section in its National Development Plan (NDP III). The President also urged the Ministry of Trade and Industry to ensure inclusion and support for projects managed by people living with disabilities. In the same way, he also said the Ministry of Education should facilitate the inclusion of education and increased bursaries to accommodate the special needs of people with disabilities.
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"Our government will continue to raise awareness and the need for mainstreaming disability issues through constant consultation with people living with disabilities and other stakeholders," he said.
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